FM confers with counterparts, top officials on sidelines of IORA Summit

Zarif met with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, Indian Vice-President Mohammed Hamid Ansari, South African President Jacob Zuma, Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Iranian forign minister discussed issues of mutual interest with Malaysia Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Kenya’s Secreatry for Foreign Affaris Amina Mohamed and South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane.

Secretary-General of IORA K V Bhagirath, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development of France Jean-Marc Ayrault, State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Minoru Kiuchi and Tanzania Vice President Mohamed Gharib Bilal were other top ranking officials who met Zarif in Jakarta.

The IORA Leaders Summit started working with the attendance of Iranian foreign minister and leaders are scheduled to discuss general issues and to sign documents in the Summit.

Zarif is participating in the event on behalf of President Hassan Rouhani.

The Summit is being held on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of IORA establishment. Leaders of the 21 IORA member states and 7 dialogue partners as well as other special guests have participated in the Summit.

Committee of Senior Officials Meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) kicked off on Monday in Jakarta, Indonesia, with participation of Iranian representatives.

IORA members consists of Iran, South Africa, Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, United Arabic Emirates, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand and Yemen.

US, England, Japan, Germany, Egypt, France and China are the 7 dialog partners of IORA.

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