Eurasia Press & News
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari arrived in Tehran Wednesday afternoon to encourage Tehran to attend the upcoming Iraq security talks in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. During his two-day visit to Tehran, Zebari is scheduled to attend meetings with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to discuss the Egypt meeting and bilateral ties.
Prior to his trip to Tehran, the Iraqi foreign minister attended a meeting with the advisor to the US Secretary of State David Satterfield, where the two sides discussed ways to persuade Iraq’s neighboring states, particularly Iran, to attend Sharm el-Sheikh talks.
Earlier in an exclusive interview with FNA, Iraqi ambassador to Tehran Mohammad Majid al-Sheikh said Zebari intends to brief Iranian officials about the meeting in Egypt and demand Tehran to attend the security talks.
The envoy further described the Sharm el-Sheikh summit as vital for Iraq’s security and expressed the hope that Tehran would attend talks, describing Iran as a powerful country in the region and the world.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini also in his weekly press conference mentioned the location and content of talks as the main impediment to Iran’s participation in Sharm el-Sheikh meeting, saying that Tehran is still studying attendance in the said talks.
Hosseini also said that Tehran would adopt a final decision on the issue following the Wednesday discussions between the two foreign ministers.
The conference in Egypt on May 1-4 will be attended by Iraq’s neighboring states plus Egypt, Bahrain and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
