TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said on Sunday that the Islamic Republic is against war anywhere in the world, underscoring diplomacy as the sole way out of the Ukraine war.

“We oppose war in Ukraine as we do in Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq or any other place in the world,” Amir Abdollahian said in a joint press conference with his Polish counterpart, Zbigniew Rau, in Tehran.

“We believe the crisis in Ukraine will be resolved politically,” Amir Abdollahian said. 

Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, he added, must lead to an immediate ceasefire.

Poland is hosting over three million Ukrainians fleeing the war since Russia launched attack on Ukraine on February 24.

Iran’s chief diplomat also said he has been conveying the message of the Ukrainian foreign minister to the Russian foreign minister twice in line with Tehran’s  policy to help end the war.

Amir Abdollahian said once the war broke out, Iran was ready to dispatch a medical team to Poland’s border. However, he said, as the International Committee of the Red Cross has set up hubs in neighboring countries, Iran was told there was no need for that dispatch. “We are still ready to send a medical team.”

The Iranian foreign minister said Tehran was willing to work for a ceasefire that would contribute to peace, stability and security throughout the world.

Russia said it was launching military campaign against Ukraine to “de-Nazify” the country and prevent it from joining NATO. The United States and its European allies have imposed a wide array of sanctions against Moscow ever since.

In mid-April, Amir Abdollahian communicated Iran’s opposition to the war during a telephone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba. He urged attention on the part of the concerned parties to the conflict to a political solution, hoping that negotiations between Russia and Ukraine “would lead to stability and peace.”

Iran and Poland see eye to eye for cooperation in different fields

During the press conference, Amir Abdollahian also said Tehran and Warsaw saw eye to eye on boosting cooperation in various fields, including energy, science and technology, automotive industry, nuclear medicine, and student exchange.

Rau, for his part, said promotion of trade and economic relations with Iran is among Poland’s priorities once the Vienna talks on the revival of the 2015 deal are concluded.

“Reaching an agreement to ramp up cultural cooperation is the first step; we will try to strengthen trade ties as we believe Iran has a great potential to that end,” the Polish foreign minister remarked.