Zarif’s busy schedule a sign of Iran’s activism in the international scene

Tabnak – After having positive talks with the high-ranking Armenian officials in Yerevan on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister is set to visit Italy and Azerbaijan. The trips has been interpreted by the observers as a sign of Iran’s desire to take a more active role at the international arena.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said on Wednesday that Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is to leave Tehran for Rome on Thursday to attend the third international forum on Mediterranean dialogue.

At the top of the forum’s agenda will be issues such as common security, common prosperity, immigration, culture and civil society, he said. The visit takes place upon official initiation extended by Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano, Qasemi said, adding that the Iranian foreign minister is to deliver a keynote speech at the forum.

After the forum in Rome, Zarif will travel to Baku to attend the international conference “Heart of Asia.” The 7th Ministerial Conference will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan under the theme “Security and Economic Connectivity towards a Strengthened Heart of Asia Region” on November 30-December 1, 2017.

The conference, mainly focused on Afghanistan, provides a framework for development of friendly and fruitful regional cooperation with the aim of reinforcing regional peace and prosperity, Qassemi said.

He said the conference, which is organized to create a path to address the challenges Afghanistan is facing and the common interests it shares with its neighbors and regional partners, is annually held in one of the participating countries.

It should be noted that in another recent foreign trip, Zarif was in Yerevan on Tuesday, having a set of bilateral meetings with Armenian officials. Heading a politico-economic delegation, Zarif discussed bilateral ties as well as regional and international developments with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian.

He told reporters after the meeting with Nalbandian that Iran and Armenia enjoy close neighborly relations, calling for further enhancement of political and economic relations between the two nations.

Iran’s top diplomat also took part in Armenia-Iran Business Forum, where he praised the “very close and growing relations” between the two countries and said there was no obstacle in the way of improving mutual ties.

Zarif’s Yerevan visit came at a time that Iran and Armenia have been recently intensifying efforts to promote their mutual relations. The two countries announced in early August that they had lifted their visa regime to enable their citizens to freely commute between the two countries.

Iran is currently exporting natural gas to Armenia and is in return importing electricity from the country to support demand in its northern provinces.

Iran reportedly exports nearly one million cubic meters of natural gas to Armenia per day. Officials in Tehran had previously said that the volume could increase to as high as six million cubic meters per day.