Insecurity detrimental to all regional countries: Iran's president

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani says the spread of insecurity and instability in the Middle East will be highly detrimental to all regional countries.

In a meeting with Oman's Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi in Tehran on Sunday, the Iranian president said Tehran and Muscat shoulder a heavy responsibility vis-à-vis regional issues and must take steps to develop regional peace and stability.

He described as "very critical and worrying" the ongoing humanitarian situation in Yemen, stressing the importance of dispatching medicine and food to the war-ravaged Yemeni people and making efforts to put an end to their killing.

Rouhani expressed hope that Iran-Oman cooperation would help the Yemeni people and restore peace to the country.

The United Nations says a record 22.2 million Yemeni people are in need of food aid, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger as a result of Saudi invasion.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian president said it is imperative to expand banking cooperation and facilitate the exchange of visits between the Iranian and Omani tradesmen in order to develop business and economic relations.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to boost all-out relations and cooperation with Oman," Rouhani added. He also stressed due efforts by both countries to implement agreements and joint projects in various sectors, particularly energy and transit, at the earliest.

The Omani foreign minister, for his part, commended Iran's role in improving regional peace and stability and urged an immediate end to the killing of the Yemeni people and also due efforts to dispatch humanitarian aid to them.

Bin Alawi said his country is keen to enjoy the highest level of cooperation with Iran in various fields and will take new steps to strengthen trade and cultural cooperation.

The Omani foreign minister arrived in Tehran Friday night on a two-day visit to hold talks about mutual and regional issues. On Saturday, he held separate meetings with Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani and the governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), Valiollah Seif.

EA