Zarif meets with Tunisian president, FM

As part of his three-nation African tour, Mohammad Javad Zarif held separate meetings with President of Tunisia Beji Caid Essebsi as well as his Tunisian counterpart Taïeb Baccouche.

At the session with the Tunisian president, Foreign Minister Zarif highlighted that Iran assumes no limit on ties with Tunisia as great potentials exist for reinvigoration of bilateral cooperation.

He went on to state that "both countries possess large capacities for deepening ties and Iran is willing to exchange experiences in various sectors.”

The senior Iranian official also voiced gratitude towards hospitality of government and people of Tunisia and conveyed greetings of the Iranian President to his Tunisian counterpart.

Also at the meeting, Tunisia’s Essebsi expressed sympathies towards victims of the two terrorist attacks in the Iranian capital of Tehran.

He described Iran as a civilized country concluding that his country was ready to bolster relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

At a separate meeting, Tunisia’s FM welcome Mohammad Javad Zarif and attached significance to his visit to three African nations; "venues need to be investigated for expansion of bilateral relations in all sectors,” he emphasized.

Taïeb Baccouche expressed his country’s eagerness to develop relations with Iran is all arenas and voiced optimism that a joint commission will be formed between the two sides in early 2018.

Iran’s Zarif, for his part, said no limits exist to development of ties between the two countries and suggested that a mechanism be shaped for regular diplomatic negotiations between Tehran and Tunis.

Other issued raised at the joint meeting between Iranian and Tunisian FMs included holding of Tunisia’s Cultural Week in Tehran, deployment of Tunisian trade delegation to Iran as well as regional issues.