Zarif in Moscow for Security Meeting, Bilateral Talks

Moscow – Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif arrived here on Wednesday to take part in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

Foreign ministers of Iran and Russia are scheduled to meet on Thursday on the sidelines of the SCO meeting which is going to discuss an agenda on security and stability.

Earlier, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Russian media that Zarif and Lavrov are expected to discuss bilateral cooperation and exchange views on the nuclear talks.

Lavrov has said that nuclear negotiations between Iran and P5+1 group of world powers are on the verge of clinching the final deal,

Shanghai Cooperation Organization is an inter-governmental and international organization that was founded on June 15, 2001 in Shanghai, China.

Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are the founding member countries.

Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India have observer status in the organization.

Iran urges regional cooperation against terrorism

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif in Moscow called for cooperation among regional states to fight terrorism and extremism.

Upon arrival to Moscow, he told IRNA his visit aims at taking part in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s conference themed ‘Security and Stability in Region‘.

He termed extremism a menace which threatens every country in region and added, ‘To counter it, regional and extra-regional cooperation is required.’

Zarif said he will hold bilateral and tri-lateral meeting with counterparts from China, Russia and Tajikistan.

‘In the meetings, we will discuss extremism in the region, latest nuclear developments, the situation in Yemen, Syria and Iraq and Daesh as well as bilateral issues,’ he added.

IRNA

R.S