TEHRAN— Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh announced on Monday that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will travel to Iran over the weekend.

“Over the weekend, we will be hosting Mr. Lavrov so that we can expand cooperation with the Eurasian region and the Caucasus,” Khatibzadeh told a news briefing.

Iran-Turkey relations are stable

Regarding Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian's impending visit to Turkey, the spokesman said that one of the most important issues in the region is cooperation with Turkey. 

“We have had one of the most stable relations with Turkey in recent years. The two sides are trying to find a proper date. This trip will take place soon,” Khatibzadeh reiterated. 

When asked about Turkish media allegations that Iran is supporting the PKK in northern Syria, Khatibzadeh refuted the claims, calling them “scattered and false accusations made by the media which are not worth responding to.”

He went on to note that Tehran’s position on the developments in Syria is crystal clear. 

“Iran-Turkey relations are good, multi-layered and strategic, but we have clearly stated our position on the Syrian conflict, and it is one of the disputed cases that we, as two mature actors in the region, have tried to resolve and manage through the diplomatic process,” the diplomat expressed. 

He added that in the recent Astana meeting, good talks were held between the Iranian and Turkish delegations regarding the issue in Syria.

“We stated our position that war is by no means a solution and efforts should be made to preserve Syria's territorial integrity and central sovereignty. We specifically announced this principled position to our friends in Turkey,” the diplomat noted. 

Israeli regime is misusing everything for its anti-peace goals

Commenting on the reports about the looming President Joe Biden's regional tour, Khatibzadeh said, “We also heard the reports. Of course, I won’t go into early judgments about what might happen, but what we are witnessing is that the usurper regime is trying to use everything for its sinister, anti-stability, anti-security and anti-peace goals and intentions.” 

The diplomat then cautioned officials in Washington and some countries in the region not to follow in the footsteps of the Israeli regime. 

“We are currently waiting to see what will happen in the future,” he added.

Trade with Africa hit billion dollar

On the Foreign Ministry’s achievements in the Ebrahim Raisi administration, the spokesman said, “Mr. Amir Abdollahian spoke many times about the priorities of the diplomatic apparatus, and the most important of all was the neighbor-oriented policy. Most of the travels and diplomatic movements with the neighbors have taken place with the neighbors.”

Iran wants to cooperate with the neighbors in a more peaceful environment, and this is in conflict with the actions of some trans-regional players, he asserted. 

Khatibzadeh then stated that the volume of Iran's trade relations with its neighbors in some areas has quadrupled. 

“Our economic relations with Africa have reached more than $1 billion in some areas. Of course, we did not forget the balanced policy to follow the same path with the countries of the East and the West,” he explained.

Sanctions are clear economic terrorism

Responding to a question on the unilateral sanctions against the Syrian people, Khatibzadeh said, “The fact that U.S. sanctions are a clear economic terrorism against nations is a common focal point for all those who focus on sanctions. This economic terrorism doubles up for the Syrian people. There were years when the United States and its allies in the region and outside the region, through mercenaries, tried to deploy terrorists in Syria and thereby overthrow the Syrian central government, which was defeated by the fierce resistance of the Syrian people.”

He went on to elaborate on Washington’s new method of destabilizing Syria, saying, “Today, they have entered another phase of this oppression against the Syrian people in order to put additional pressure on the Syrian people.”

The spokesman reiterated that the U.S. sanctions is not the only element of oppression against the Syrian people, saying “Those who follow the attacks of the occupying regime on food and raw material storage centers in Syria know that completing this puzzle means keeping the Syrian people deprived and starving them, which, of course, will not bear fruit with the Syrian government's tactics. We have always condemned this economic terrorism and said that this is a domino that will surely affect the founders of these sanctions and attacks.”