Government: Iran is Europe’s key ally
Europe’s interest in preventing mass migration waves from Afghanistan has made Iran a key ally in the region, Hungary’s foreign minister, said in Tehran on Thursday.
If mass migration waves from Afghanistan cannot be prevented, they should at least be prevented from reaching Europe, Péter Szijjártó told a press conference held with Hossein Amirabdollahian, his Iranian counterpart, adding that this made Iran’s role in the region more important.
Iran took in more than 3.5 million Afghan refugees by the end of 2020, Szijjártó noted, citing estimates from the United Nations indicating that it could admit some 300,000 more.
“It is clear that if these people set off towards Europe, we will be presented with serious security and epidemiological risks,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, he said
Hungary has delivered 100,000 doses of the Sinopharm Covid jab to Iran with a view to increasing the vaccination rate of the country’s Afghan refugees.
As regards the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Szijjarto said Hungary backed any proposal aimed at reviving it. “In our view the world is dealing with enough challenges as it is, so it is all the more important to have a chance to end certain conflicts,” he said, adding that the world would be a safer place if the West could rebuild its ties with Iran.
Until then, Hungary is prepared to seek the closest possible cooperation with Iran in the areas not affected by the sanctions, Szijjártó said. Amirabdollahian thanked Hungary for the vaccines and welcomed the new agreement on the two countries’ mutual recognition of each other’s Covid immunity certificates.
Tehran is working to reach similar agreements with other countries, too, and to ensure wider approval for the Iran-developed jab,
he said.
Szijjártó is scheduled to hold talks with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the country’s economy minister later on Thursday.
Szijjártó is scheduled to hold talks with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the country’s economy minister later on Thursday.
Source: MTI