According to Khabar Online's political correspondent, the discussion between the two foreign ministers on Wednesday was centered on the latest developments in the ties between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Turkey as well as the issues of the Middle East region.
As Iran and the 5+1 group (the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany) have recently expressed their interest in resuming the negotiations and are to hold a new round of talks, once again Turkey is making effort to play its role as a mediator.
In recent years, Turkey has played an active role in arbitrating disputes between Iran and the West powers on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
Turkey has always backed Iran's peaceful nuclear program and is interested to resolve the issue through diplomatic methods as soon as possible. Ankara maintains that the economic sanctions the United States and the European Union have imposed on Iran will not make it to follow them.
However, Turkish officials have reiterated that the cooperation of Tehran with the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would contribute to settle the dispute.
Ankara’s role on the issue was first proved in Tehran Nuclear Declaration, a Turkish-Brazilian brokered proposal made and approved on the sidelines of the late G 15 Summit in Tehran.
Moreover, the second round of negotiations between Iran and the 5+1 group was held in Istanbul, Turkey in January 2011. The first round of the talks had been taken place in Geneva, Switzerland in December 2010.
The former head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Salehi announced that Tehran will soon propose a date for resumption of talks with the 5+1 group on its nuclear program in Istanbul. Therefore, it was stressed that the location of the new rounds of talks of Iran with the 5+1 group would be Istanbul.
But the two countries have differences as well, particularly on the issue of Syria which has been shaken by unrest and armed combat from almost a year ago between the Syrian army which supports President Beshar al-Assad and the opposition forces. Thousands of people have been killed during clashes since the beginning of the turmoil and antigovernment protests in March, 2011.
Ankara has joined the west on imposing economic sanctions on Damascus. On December 9 Turkey's customs and trade minister said that the government is expected to approve the suspension of a free trade agreement with Syria. Furthermore, Turkey is currently sheltering the Syrian nationals who have fled their country due to unrest, as well as the opponents of Syrian government.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has protested Turkish government's alignment with the US and EU’s policies against Syria. Moreover, Iran's Majlis (parliament) passed a bill in December on free trade with Syria to back the Arabian republic which is hit by the West's economic sanctions.
In another development, at the trilateral Nakhichevan Summit, the foreign ministers of Turkey and Iran, as well as their Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov reached a consensus on the urgency of solving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the Caucasus and the importance of a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.
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