Zarif advises neighbors to exclude US, E3 regional talks

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has called on the neighboring countries to the Islamic Republic to hold talks about regional developments without foreign interference.

In a post on his Twitter account on Tuesday, Zarif invited the neighboring states to exclude the United States and the three European signatories to the nuclear deal of 2015 – Britain, France and Germany – from regional talks as the very same countries are the cause of the problems.

“There won't be ANY talks about OUR region with them [US/E3] as they're the problem themselves,” he said.

The top diplomat also emphasized that countries in the region "can speak directly without outside meddling."

Zarif once again stressed the importance of implementing Tehran’s peace initiative to promote security in the Persian Gulf, the Hormuz Peace Endeavor (HOPE), which he said “is still on the table.”

Addressing a speech at the UN General Assembly meeting in September 2019, President Hassan Rouhani presented the HOPE initiative and invited all regional countries to participate in it.

Zarif’s remarks came shortly after he said in an Arabic tweet that Iran would not engage in talks with the Western countries on the region due to their interventionist approach.

He said it seems that some of Iran’s neighbors have asked the West that they also be part of any negotiations with Tehran. “We will not negotiate with the West over the region. The main problem is their intervention.”

SS