Singaporean Minister Blasts Anti-Iran Sanctions for Troubling Ties

Singaporean State Minister Masagos Zulkifli Bin Masagos Mohamad voiced regret over the limitations and obstacles created by the western sanctions to the further expansion of his country’s relations with Tehran.
Masagos Mohamad made the remarks in a meeting with visiting Head of Iran-Singapore Parliamentary Friendship Group Gholamreza Mesbahi Moqaddam and other Iranian MPs accompanying him on Sunday.

He also voiced interest in the further development of ties with Tehran, and said, “Singapore sincerely wants to have all-out relations with Iran.”

During the meeting which was also held in the presence of Singaporean Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam and Iranian Ambassador to Singapoe Javad Ansari, Masagos Mohamad also underscored his country’s enthusiasm for broadening relations with Iran.

“Singapore is Iran’s friend and we are really seeking ways to expand relations with Tehran,” he said.

Elsewhere in the meeting, Foreign Minister Shanmugam referred to the nuclear talks between Iran and the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany), and said, “For Singapore and certain states which follow the negotiations from outside, the current conditions are highly bitter and undesirable. If any agreement is reached, it will benefit all and we sincerely hope that an agreement will be struck in the next few months.”

This is the first time that an Iranian parliamentary friendship group is visiting Singapore.

The Iranian parliamentarians are also due to hold separate meetings with their Singaporean counterparts and other officials to confer on new ways of bolstering relations.

Early in June, Singaporean Parliament Speaker Halimah Yacob in a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif expressed the hope that trade and economic cooperation between the two countries would further increase.