Iran’s President Sends Envoy to Turkey

The Iranian president’s Chief of Staff Mahmoud Vaezi left Tehran for Ankara on Thursday to convey a presidential message to Turkey.

Vaezi has travelled to Ankara to comvey a message from the Iranian president to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In his one-day visit to the neighboring country, the Iranian president’s chief of staff would hold meetings with Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and a number of other officials.

Iran and Turkey have ramped up efforts in recent years to boost bilateral trade, setting a $30-billion annual trade target and signing several agreements to enhance cooperation in various areas.

Turkey is one of Iran’s major trading partners in the region which has come under pressure from Washington to stop working with Tehran under a fresh wave of US anti-Iran sanctions.

Turkey has emphasized that the US demands to stop purchasing oil and gas from Iran would go unheeded by Ankara.

In comments on June 27, Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said, “The decisions taken by the United States on this issue are not binding for us,” adding that Turkey would only fall in line behind a United Nations resolution to the same effect.