Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas set to visit Iran

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is slated to pay a visit to Iran within the next two months in a bid to improve bilateral relations with the Islamic Republic, a senior Palestinian official says.

Ahmed Majdalani, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), who is visiting the capital, Tehran, told the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency on Monday that he had talked about Abbas’ planned visit with Iranian officials.

Iranian authorities have not commented yet on the report about Abbas’ plans for a visit to Iran.

In a Sunday meeting between Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Majdalani, both sides agreed to set up a “high-profile” joint committee to cooperate in political, commercial and educational issues, according to Ma’an.

Referring to the recent agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries, Majdalani said it could “lay the grounds for an international conference which could help clear the region from nuclear weapons, including Israel.”

Iran and the P5+1 group – the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany – reached the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on July 14.

Under the JCPOA, limits will be put on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for, among other things, the removal of all economic and financial bans against the Islamic Republic.

Abbas visited Iran back in 2012, when he participated in the 16th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in Tehran.