Zarif's Visit to Turkey Aims to Enhance Economic Cooperation Between the Two Countries

Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, announced upon his arrival in Turkey on March 20 that Iran seeks to increase its economic relations with the country. Zarif stated that in the post-JCPOA era, Iran is eager to have broader economic ties with its western neighbor. During Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's visit to Iran in mid-March, several economic plans and projects were discussed, and Zarif mentioned that these plans would be pursued during his trip to Istanbul. In his one-day visit, Zarif attended a lunch hosted by his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, and is scheduled to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as well. Hours after Zarif's arrival in Turkey, an explosion occurred at a commercial center in Istanbul, resulting in at least four fatalities. It remains unclear whether this explosion will affect Zarif's travel plans. Meanwhile, ahead of this visit, Cavusoglu tweeted in Persian that he is hosting the Iranian foreign minister and referred to Iran as a neighbor that has not changed its borders for nearly four centuries. In addition to increasing economic exchanges, the Syrian crisis and the expansion of political relations between Tehran and Ankara will also be topics of discussion during Zarif's negotiations with Turkish officials. Turkey recently reached an agreement with EU leaders to take on a greater role in accommodating Syrian refugees, housing all of them until their asylum cases are resolved. Zarif also spoke by phone with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, about ways to implement the Syrian peace plan. In this conversation, both sides emphasized the need for stable political processes involving both government representatives and opposition groups. TASS news agency reported that both foreign ministers agreed to coordinate their efforts for the sake of establishing peace. Zarif arrived in Istanbul on Saturday morning and was welcomed by Mohsen Mortazavi Far, the Iranian consul general. He will be back in Iran on the first day of Farvardin.