Poland Vows Warsaw Meeting Won’t Be against Iran

TEHRAN (defapress) – A Polish deputy foreign minister gave Iran an assurance that a conference that his country is going to co-organize with the US in Warsaw next month will focus on the Middle East peace and will not be against the Islamic Republic at all.

News ID: 75127

Date: 22 January 2019 - 11:31

Poland’s Undersecretary of State for Economic Diplomacy, Development Cooperation, Asia, Africa and the Middle East Policy Maciej Lang arrived in Tehran on Monday and held a meeting with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi.

Heading a diplomatic delegation, Lang visited Tehran to allay Iran’s concerns about the so-called conference on the Middle East peace and security in Warsaw, initiated by the US.

In the meeting with Araqchi, the Polish deputy minister highlighted the close relations between Poland and Iran as well as his country’s strong support for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, stressing that the planned conference in Warsaw will discuss peace and security in the Middle East and “will not be against any country at all, including the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

“As a major actor in the Middle East, Iran has a significant role in the formation of regional developments. Poland’s purpose in holding the conference is to help settle problems in the region, and Poland, as a friend of Iran’s, will not allow any measure to be taken against Iran,” Lang said.

For his part, the Iranian deputy foreign minister described the Israeli regime’s occupational policies and suppression of the Palestinian nation as the main problem in the Middle East, saying the fact that such a major issue has not been put on the agenda of the Warsaw meeting reveals that the conference is “one-sided” and that the US pursues other objectives by holding it.

Araqchi also described as “unacceptable” the excuses given by Poland for working with the US to host the planned conference, slated for February 13 and 14, stressing, “The Polish government must recognize the US government’s real intentions in the conference and be wary of its consequences.”

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has always sought establishment of peace and security in the region and proved this in the fight against terrorist groups such as Daesh (ISIL). However, it won’t allow any country, in or outside the region, to form alliances against its interests,” Araqchi underscored.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in January that the meeting would “focus on Middle East stability and peace and freedom and security here in this region, and that includes an important element of making sure that Iran is not a destabilizing influence.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has denounced the planned event in Poland as a “desperate anti-Iran circus.”

Zarif has also reminded Poland of the favor that Iran has done the Polish during the second world war, noting, “Polish government can't wash the shame: while Iran saved Poles in WWII, it now hosts desperate anti-Iran circus.”

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