Tehran, March 30, IRNA – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif and President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani discussed the peace process of Afghanistan, as well regional and bilateral issues, in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on Tuesday.

Ghani said in the meeting that Afghanistan is ready to expand relations with Iran in every field and holding a joint economic cooperation commission.

He also thanked Iran for its stance on the developments in Afghanistan.

Earlier today, Zarif had a joint meeting with his Afghan and Tajik counterparts, respectively Hanif Atmar and Sirojiddin Mukhriddin. 

Zarif arrived in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe on Monday for a 2-day visit to participate in a ministerial meeting of the Heart of Asia – Istanbul Process initiative and to meet with the Central Asian country's high-ranking officials.

The first Asian Heart Conference, also known as the Istanbul Process, was held in Istanbul in 2011 with the participation of foreign ministers from 14 countries to expand regional cooperation towards Afghanistan in 2011 with the focus of Afghanistan and Turkey’s efforts.

China, India, Afghanistan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were among the countries whose representatives attended the first Asia Heart Trends Conference.

The Asia Heart Conference has so far held eight meetings in Turkey (2011, 2019), Afghanistan (2012), Kyrgyzstan (2013), China (2014), Pakistan (2015), India (2016), and Azerbaijan (2017).

9417**2050

Follow us on Twitter @IrnaEnglish