Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 26
By Temkin Jafarov, Saeed Isayev - Trend:
Supporting extremists doesn't serve anyone's interests, and none of our neighboring countries will benefit from supporting extremism and sectarianism, Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said, Iran's Mehr News Agency reported on Feb. 26.
Zarif made the remarks during the joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart, Hoshyar Zebari in Tehran today.
"The cases of assaults on Iran's embassies and other diplomatic facilities in Lebanon, Yemen, Pakistan and Iraq do not add to establishment of peace and stability in the region," Zarif said, answering the question regarding the recent terror acts in countries neighboring with Iran.
A November 19 bomb explosion near Iranian embassy in Beirut took the lives of 23 people, including Iranian diplomats. The first explosion targeted the embassy gates and was caused by a suicide attacker on a motorcycle. A much larger second blast, caused by a suicide attacker in a 4x4 vehicle, struck yards away minutes later as people rushed to the scene.
Zarif went on to add that because of Iran's agreement with P5+1, there are groups which tries to create tensions and conflicts, fearing that Iran and Western states can find common ground.
The U.S. and its Western allies suspect Iran of developing a nuclear weapon - something that Iran denies. The Islamic Republic has on numerous occasions stated that it does not seek to develop nuclear weapons, using nuclear energy for medical researches instead.
Iran and the P5+1 reached a nuclear agreement on Nov. 24. Iran has agreed to curb some of its nuclear activities for six months in return for sanctions relief.
Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari arrived in Tehran on Tuesday evening for a 2-day visit and meeting with his Iranian counterpart.
The visit was supposed to be done in early February, but because of some domestic reasons, was postponed.
Zebari is also scheduled to attend the Majlis (parliament) and discuss issues of mutual interest in bilateral and regional levels with Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani.