Iranian president tells Erdoğan agreement will improve relations

TEHRAN

File photo from January 2014.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has underlined the importance of the Vienna agreement on Iran’s nuclear future and its positive impact on Tehran-Ankara relations with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, via a phone conversation.

“This agreement will influence Iran’s relations with its neighbors, especially Turkey,” President Rouhani said during the conversation, according to Iranian agency IRNA. 

“We left behind the oppressive sanctions and were able to find acceptable solutions,” he added.

The Iranian president also mentioned Tehran and Ankara’s mutual cooperation to help restore stability in the region, saying, “People of the region are eyeing our cooperation and we can achieve a win-win solution in the region.” 

“It is necessary to increase our interactions for uprooting terrorism and confronting the issue of terrorism in the region, which could destabilize regional countries.”

Rouhani, meantime, thanked Turkey for its cooperation on the nuclear issue in recent years. 

The Turkish president, for his part, felicitated President Rouhani for its nuclear achievements, according to IRNA. He said, “We are ready to cooperate with Iran on regional issues. We can help achieve this through close interactions among different bodies of the two countries.”

Erdoğan, in reference to Iran-Turkey relations, said, “We should follow up the expansion of ties and help to deepen it through cooperation.”

Turkish authorities have not yet made a statement on the conversation.