“Expansion of all-out ties with regional and neighboring states will be a foreign policy priority for the next Iranian administration,” Rohani said on Friday.
He made the remarks in response to a message by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulating him on his victory in Iran’s June 14 presidential election.
On June 24, Turkish President Abdullah Gul called for further expansion of diplomatic relations and cooperation between Ankara and Tehran in diverse areas.
In a telephone conversation, Gul congratulated Rohani on his victory in the recent Iranian presidential poll, lauded the Iranian president-elect’s stances, and wished the next Iranian administration success.
The Turkish president also expressed hope to meet with Rohani on the sidelines of the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly in late September.
Rohani won 50.7 percent of the vote to secure an outright victory. In the Iranian system, if no presidential candidate receives 50 percent of the vote, the two top candidates must face off in a run-off election.
Nearly 50.5 million Iranians, including more than 1.6 million first-time voters, were eligible to participate in the presidential election. The Interior Ministry put the voter turnout at 72.7 percent.
Rohani currently represents Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in the Supreme National Security Council and is also a member of the Expediency Council and the Assembly of Experts. He is also the director of the Expediency Council's Center for Strategic Research.
