Rouhani’s Ankara visit a sign of growing Iran-Turkey relations despite the US pressures

Tabnak – In line with developing ties between Tehran and Ankara at both bilateral and regional levels, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visited Turkey today to attend high-level talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Economic issues consisted the most important part of the discussions between the two presidents.

According to the reports published by the Iranian official news outlets, the governments of Iran and Turkey signed two memorandums of understanding during Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s official visit to Ankara on Thursday.

In this vein, Iran and Turkey have agreed to step up their economic cooperation with the aim of reaching a $30-billion target set for their annual trade, voicing concern over the re-imposition by the US of unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic, a move which could affect the entire region's economy.

The agreement was reached at the 5th Meeting of High Council for Iran-Turkey Strategic Cooperation in Ankara chaired by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to a joint statement issued at the end of the event on Thursday. Following the event, Rouhani and Erdogan took part in a joint press conference.

Heading a high-ranking delegation, the Iranian chief executive arrived in Ankara on Thursday for two days of talks with senior Turkish officials on a wide range of issues, particularly bilateral economic relations as well as a Syria peace process that Iran and Turkey-- along with Russia -- have been mediating since January 2017.

Rouhani is accompanied by a number of Iranian ministers and other senior officials, including Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s Petroleum Minister Bijan Zangeneh and Economy Minister Farhad Dejpasand. During the visit, Tehran and Ankara are scheduled to sign a number of agreements in different fields, including economy, politics and culture.

Before leaving for Ankara, Rouhani said the US has no longer any influence on relations between countries in the region, stressing Washington will no longer be able to dictate its policies to regional states.

“Our neighbors … have explicitly told the US that the era of dictating policies to others is over and the US cannot decide for the region and relations between regional nations and countries from thousands of kilometers away,” Rouhani told reporters at Mehrabad International Airport on Wednesday.

In August, Trump ordered all nuclear-related sanctions that were removed under the deal to be reinstated immediately. Turkish officials, including President Erdogan, have criticized the US for re-imposing its unilateral sanctions against Iran, stressing Ankara’s determination to keep economic ties with Tehran.