Amir-Abdollahian meets with Jordan's FM, UN Secretary-General

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
19 Apr 2024 02:08

During his trip to New York, Iran's Foreign Minister discussed regional developments and the Israeli war on Gaza with his Jordanian counterpart and Antonio Guterres.

Iran's Minister for Foreign Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, left, shakes hand with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, right, during a meeting at United Nations headquarters, on April 18, 2024. (AP)

The Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met with his Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi, and the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in separate meetings on Thursday.

In the meeting with Safadi, who is also Jordan's Deputy Prime Minister, the parties discussed bilateral ties and recent regional developments. The meeting occurred on the sidelines of the United Nations Security Council, where the Iranian foreign minister had an address.

The two spoke about the potential of escalation in the region and efforts to halt the war on Gaza, Jordan News Agency (Petra) reported.

The top Jordanian representative told his Iranian counterpart that the country will not allow regional powers to turn its territory into a combat zone. It is worth noting that Jordan reportedly opened its airspace to the Israeli Air Force and participated in attempts to down Iran's drones and missiles on April 13.

For his part, Amir-Abdollahian said that Iran does express respect toward Jordan, however, he emphasized the context of the Iranian retaliatory attack on Israeli military sites. He explained that the Iranian response came after "Israel" attacked the country's embassy in Syria, adding that the retaliatory attack was legitimate and came after sufficient warnings.

Also, the two officials reiterated the necessity to stop the Israeli war on Gaza, as the Jordanian foreign minister expressed that his country seeks strong relations with Iran.

Iran's foreign minister meets Guterres

In the context of Amir-Abdollahian's address to the UN in New York, the foreign minister also met with Antonio Guterres on Thursday evening.

According to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), the two parties discussed the latest developments in West Asia and international issues.

Amir-Abdollahian reiterated to the UN Secretary-General Iran's legitimate right to respond to the Israeli attack on Iran's internationally protected diplomatic quarters in Syria.

"The inefficiency of the Security Council and the failure to condemn the attack of the Israeli regime on the Iranian embassy in Damascus made the [retalitory attack] the only option left for my country to legitimately defend itself and punish the Zionist regime," Amir-Abdollahian said according to IRNA.

The foreign minister recognized the UN Secretary-General's efforts to support the Palestinian people and his positive approach to stopping the war on Gaza, as well as providing humanitarian aid to besieged Palestinians.

On his part, Guterres called for continued restraint from regional parties and condemned any attack on diplomatic quarters.