TEHRAN – The West no longer has a monopoly on international relations, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday, highlighting the growing role of Asian states on the global scene.

Zarif made the remarks in a meeting with CICA secretariat executive director Kairat Sarybay on the sidelines of the “Heart of Asia” conferenced on Afghanistan hosted by Tajikistan.

CICA, or the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, is an inter-governmental forum for enhancing cooperation towards promoting peace, security and stability in Asia. It is a forum based on the recognition that there is close link between peace, security and stability in Asia and the rest of the world. The key idea of the conference is based on the priority of the indivisibility of security, joint initiative and mutually beneficial interaction of small and large states. CICA was first proposed by former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on October 5, 1992 at the UN General Assembly.

Zarif expressed Tehran’s support to strengthen CICA and cooperation among its member states.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the chief diplomat thanked Kazakhstan for its role in the talks on Iran’s nuclear program and the Syria peace negotiations within the Astana format.

For his part, Sarybay acknowledged Iran’s participation in and contribution to CICA regional activities, and briefed Zarif on the organization’s plans for upcoming ministerial meetings.

CICA has 27 member countries and 8 observers.

Ambassador Sarybay was appointed as CICA executive director at the special meeting of the CICA foreign ministers on September 24, 2020 and assumed his duties from the beginning of October of the same year.

PA/PA