‘Disagreement on Syria should not sour Iran’s ties with regional countries’

TEHRAN,March 17(MNA) – Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said that disagreements on the Syrian crisis should not influence Tehran’s relationship with neighboring countries. “The expansion of ties with the regional countries, especially our neighbors, is among the top priorities of our foreign policy, and we do our best to take advantage of high potentials that exist for cooperation between us and neighboring countries,” Mehmanparast said on Saturday. He also said that instability in one country can spill over into all neighboring countries, adding that regional states, rather than foreign forces, should cooperate to create a stable and calm region. He emphasized that the best way to defend the Syrian people’s rights is to help end the violence there, adding that there are disagreements on the proposed solutions for the Syrian crisis, which should not sour Tehran’s good relations with neighbors. Asked about bilateral talks with the United States, he said after long years of hostile moves against Iran, Washington needs to significantly change its policy such as lifting the pressure off the country and respecting the rights of the Iranian nation. On relations with Europe, the official said Iran has one of the largest oil and gas reserves in the world which can supply the European countries with needed energy in long term. The Europeans “need us for their progress, and we also need to have cooperation with them to develop our country. Therefore, we have always sought to establish the best relations with them,” he noted. The fact that a number of European countries have cool attitude toward Iran is because they are following the political decisions made by a few Western powers, which can put the interests of all European states at stake, the Foreign Ministry spokesman opined. Asked about the prospect of talks between Iran and the 5+1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) due in April, he said after a lapse of eight months, the 5+1 members realized that a diplomacy of “pressure and negotiations” cannot make “our nation bow down” and relinquish its rights. Their approach was more logical this time and their demands were not fundamentally inconsistent with the Iranian nation’s rights, he said in a reference to the nuclear talks between Iran and the 5+1 group in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on February 26 and 27. Iran and the major powers have agreed to meet again at the same venue in April after meeting at expert level in Istanbul on March 18.