Tabnak – Iranian foreign minister who is at an official trip to Singapore, signed the signed a friendship treaty with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Amid the new, increasing wave of US pressures, the move could improve Iran’s international stance, providing it with alternative contexts for diplomatic interactions.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif signed the Instrument of Accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in South East Asia at the annual gathering of ASEAN’s foreign ministers in Singapore on Thursday.
The treaty comes only two months after US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of an international nuclear agreement with Iran and announced that he would re-impose economic sanctions that were largely lifted under that deal.
Nevertheless, experts believe that Asian countries are likely to brush off US sanctions and maintain business ties with Iran despite Washington’s pressure to harm all trade ties with the Islamic Republic.
At Thursday’s meeting, foreign ministers of the ASEAN member states as well as ministers of the observer countries, including Iran, Russia, China, and India, are scheduled to discuss the latest regional and international developments during the 51st session of the 10-nation bloc.
On the sidelines of the event, Zarif held separate meetings with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as well as his Philippines, Japanese and Turkish counterparts for talks on bilateral ties as well as regional and international issues, including the Iran nuclear agreement.
While in Singapore, Iranian Foreign Minister also took to Twitter to denounce the “unlawful” sanctions the US has said will impose on Turkey's ministers of justice and interior, saying such measures show that Washington’s “addiction” to sanctions has no limits.
In a post in his Twitter account on Thursday, Zarif said, “US’ unlawful sanctions against two Turkish ministers - from an allied country - illustrates not just US administration's policy of pressure and extortion in lieu of statecraft, but that its addiction to sanctions knows no bounds.”
His reaction came after the White House said the US Treasury Department will impose sanctions on Turkey's minister of justice and minister of interior over detention of an American pastor who is being tried in Turkey on espionage and terror-related charges.
The US says Turkey's Minister of Justice Abdulhamit Gul and Minister of Interior Suleyman Soylu both played leading roles in the organizations responsible for 50-year-old Andrew Craig Brunson's arrest and detention.
Earlier on Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his government won't back down and may "go its own way" if the US imposes sanctions.
