Top Official:’Establishing strong region’ Iran neighborliness policy aim

The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) says the administration’s neighborliness policy is intended to create a strong region by bringing regional countries together.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday morning before departing Tehran for Abu Dhabi, Ali Shamkhani expressed hopes that a stable and secure region would be achievable through regional cooperation.

“The view of the 13th administration on the regional cooperation that is being pursued in the framework of neighborliness diplomacy is to create a ‘strong region,’” said Shamkhani, Iran’s top security official.

“If all the countries in the region come to believe that they can achieve stability and endurable security only by trying to create a strong region, we can hope for the formation of new developments in bilateral and multilateral relations in the region,” he said, Press Tv reported.

He added that Tehran and Abu Dhabi have numerous commonalities in political, economic and security fields, emphasizing that both sides’ officials should hold constant consultations to make use of their capabilities.

A report by Nour News, a website that is close to the SNSC, said on Wednesday that Shamkhani will hold talks with his Emirati counterpart, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan, as well as other senior Emirati officials to discuss bilateral, regional and international issues. Senior economic, banking and security officials will accompany the top Iranian security official.

Shamkhani’s visit to Abu Dhabi comes less than a week after Iran and Saudi Arabia announced the normalization of their ties following several days of hectic deliberations between Shamkhani and his Saudi Arabian counterpart in Beijing.