Iranian FM to Arrive in Baku

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki is due to pay a daylong visit to Baku, the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Iran, Abbasali Hasanov said Saturday.

During his visit, Mottaki will hold negotiations with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov and President Ilham Aliyev, the envoy told trend news. The meetings will focus on the issues of bilateral and regional cooperation, including the initiative of Turkey – “Caucasus Platform of Stability and Security,” he said.

Mottaki will visit Baku, returning from his official visit to Russia where he discussed regional issues as well.

In his recent interview for the newspaper Azg, the representative on political affairs of the Embassy of Iran in Armenia, Kamal Zareh, said that the non-participation of Tehran in “Caucasus Platform of Stability and Security” would make the initiative “inadequate”.

According to the diplomat, Iran’s participation in the plan would make it fully valuable. “Version 3+3, which will be the most worthy model for regulating the tasks, will be the best one. This model includes three republics of South Caucasus as well as Russia, Iran and Turkey”.

In August the Prime Minister of Turkey Rajab Tayyib Erdogan suggested to establish the Caucasus Union, which would include Russia.

Baku supports Turkey’s initiative to establish Caucasus Union, the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, said earlier.