Iran Proposes Another 3+3 Meeting: Here's Why It Won't Happen
Date
2/22/2023 9:19:57 AM
(MENAFN- AzerNews)
Sabina Mammadli read more Monday saw a meeting between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister
Alexander Grushko with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir
Abdollahian in Tehran, during which the latter expressed Tehran's
readiness to host a meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia,
Iran, Turkiye versus Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, under the '3 +
3' format.
Such a meeting under the format seems in the realm of fantasy,
considering that both Iran itself and Georgia have previously
declined the possibility of such a meeting. Georgia is opposed to
any dialogue that includes Russia after its occupation of Abkhazia
and South Ossetia and considering Russia's invasion of Ukraine
nearing a one-year anniversary, such a meeting couldn't be further
away.
Back in December 2021, Moscow hosted the first meeting of the
3+3 Consultative Regional Platform under the co-chairmanship of
Russia's Andrey Rudenko, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Xalaf
Xalafov, Armenia's Vahe Gevorgyan, Turkiye's Sedat Onal, as well as
Director General of the Iranian Foreign Ministry Alireza
Haghighian. Even back then representatives of Georgia, who were
also invited, refused from participating in the meeting,
emphasizing that they will not partake in any regional platform
together with Russia.
In the meantime, amid the havoc wrecked between Azerbaijan and
Iran, Baku is unlikely to support this format as well. As
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said while in Munich, after the
backwash left of Iran's terror attack on the Azerbaijani embassy,
the talks of the normalization of the relations between the two
countries can only start after the perpetrators of the crime are
brought to justice. The president also emphasized that the attack
was preplanned and that everything leads to believe that the
Iranian government stood behind it. Taking in mind this brutal
attack on a diplomatic mission that completely disregards
international laws, combined with the general anti-Azerbaijani
agenda prevailing in Iran today, the talks of normalization take a
further seat.
Without such a key player in the region as Azerbaijan, the
meeting will not take place unless the neighboring states are ready
to mold the format into a different direction considering Baku's
conditions. In this case, Azerbaijan would have the right to demand
moral and financial compensation from Iran in lieu of the recent
provocations.
In any case, for the two countries to move past this, Iran has
to take full responsibility for the terror attack, conduct a
transparent investigation of the case and bring those responsible
to justice.
--
Sabina Mammadli is AzerNews' staff journalist, follow her on
Twitter: @sabinammdl
MENAFN22022023000195011045ID1105618084
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.