He made the statements in a meeting here on Friday with the Turkish Prisedent Recep Tayyip Erdogan during which Zarif called for the best possible relations between Tehran and Ankara which he said have already been tested in the eye of storms.
“For us, Turkey is a very important neighbor and Iran’s top-ranking officials pay a special importance to the relations with Turkey,” he stressed.
Cooperation of the two countries can be helpful and effective in the settlement of all regional crises, he said, adding that Iran and Turkey can prove a successful example of Islamic sects’ proximity.
Erdogan welcomed expansion of Tehran-Ankara relations saying it will not only profit bilateral interests but will also be in the service of peace and security in the region.
“West wants to see Islam’s weakness, so Turkey and Iran shoulder a heavy mission to solve the current problems in the region. ISIS is the common threat to us and the region, and consultations with Iran to settle all regional crises is important for us.”
Erdogan also invited Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to visit Turkey and urged the two countries to increase their bilateral trade balance to 30 billion dollars.
Zarif who had met his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu prior to the meeting with President Erdogan, also met Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
The Turkish premier said that Iran and Turkey have complementary economies and that they are required to move toward preferential trade ties.
He invited Iran to take part in the upcoming OIC summit meeting in Istanbul as the highest level and said the organization has to be a symbol of solidarity and unity in the Islamic World.
Davutoglu who recently visited Iran also said that his country wants friendly relations with Iran and called for expanded relations in the fields of energy and transportation following the removal of sanctions.
Foreign minister Zarif said Tehran will not forget the friendly countries that stood beside Iran in the hard times and agreed that both countries need to upgrade their relations.
“Sustained cooperation between Iran and Turkey will send a positive message to the Shia and Sunnis in the Islamic World,” he said; IRNA reported.
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