Tehran, Sept 7 (CTK special correspondent) – Iran must participate in the search for a solution to the Middle East conflict, Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek said after meeting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the end of his visit to Iran Monday.
Rouhani and Zaoralek discussed mainly the situation in the region, terrorism, activities of Islamic State, the migrant crisis as well as the restart of economic relations between their countries.
Zaoralek was accompanied on his visit to Iran by a strong business mission.
“We agreed with the president that if we want to solve the influx of refugees from this region, it is necessary to focus on its fundamental causes, that is the war conflicts in Syria and Iraq,” Zaoralek said.
As far as the solution to the refugee crisis is concerned, an important topic for discussion is “the creation of an alliance of countries that would be together capable of restoring political balance and seeking political solutions that would lead to the consolidation of the countries from which the refugees come,” Zaoralek said.
“Europe alone is not able to change the situation [in Syria], this is beyond our strength,” he said.
Exactly Iran could play a key role in seeking the way out in Syria, he added.
This can be enabled, among others, by the July agreement on the limitation of the Iranian nuclear programme in exchange for lifting international economic sanctions. It opens to Iran the path to more openness and cooperation with Europe, including the Czech Republic, Zaoralek said.
Iranian politicians are aware of that their country needs a change, Zaoralek noted.
“At present, Iran is really a stable country, which can be seen here all around. Iran is a safe country, which, too, has succeeded in being a certain shield against terrorism and the so-called Islamic State,” Zaoralek said.
He said he and Rouhani agreed that Czech-Iranian cooperation must be based on “certain common values to which both sides would claim their adherence.”
“The president said these are the values of human dignity, certain common principles that should unite us though either of our countries has a different [political] system and a different religion,” Zaoralek said.
Zaoralek praised an accommodating atmosphere during the talks with Iranian representatives.
They did not touch upon the chronic problem, that has long burdened Czech-Iranian relations, in particular, the Persian broadcasts of the Prague-based Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE), due to which Tehran withdrew its ambassador from Prague in 1998.
Some 50 representatives from Czech firms were probing business opportunities now that the international economic sanctions against Iran are to be abolished after a breakthrough agreement restricting the country’s nuclear programme was made in July.
Apart from politics, the delegation members often discussed the steps towards improving harmed business relations during Zaoralek’s visit.
Iranian politicians, too, have admitted that the bilateral trade volume is not satisfactory and that this must be changed.
“The [Iranian] finance minister talked about reforms. He mentioned that Iranian realise the country cannot live in isolation for long and develop a successful economy at the same time,” Zaoralek said after a meeting with Finance Minister Ali Tayebnia later Monday.
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