"Although we follow different approaches, we laud Indonesia`s efforts to realize an independent and sovereign Palestine," Director General of East Asian and Oceania Affairs at the Iranian Foreign Ministry Mahmoud Faranzandeh stated here on Monday (Jan 22).
While addressing several Indonesian journalists in Iran, Faranzandeh, the former Iranian ambassador to Indonesia, pointed out that in supporting the Palestinian struggle for independence, Indonesia had promoted the two-state solution approach through peace talks between Palestine and Israel. Meanwhile, Iran believes that settling the conflict must result in a full sovereign Palestine.
"We consider that the land of Palestine is entirely the property of the Palestinian people," he remarked.
However, the diverse approaches do not undermine the efforts that continue to be taken by Indonesia and Iran to realize an independent and sovereign Palestine.
Faranzandeh, who shares a close relationship with Indonesia, also lauded Indonesia for its active efforts in promoting world peace similar to what it had done for Palestine and the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. Iran and Indonesia always stand together in the efforts to create world peace and justice in the world.
According to Faranzandeh, if relations between Indonesia and Iran intensify, then it will contribute significantly to world peace and benefit the Islamic world. This view was expressed by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to President of Indonesia Joko Widodo during his visit to Tehran in 2016.
Faranzandeh expressed hope that Iran and Indonesia would continue to strengthen cooperation in various fields, such as trade, science and technology, as well as art and culture, as Indonesia is the world`s largest Muslim-majority country and a progressive nation.
In addition, these two Muslim countries, which are active in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the group of eight developing countries, also support each other under the Non-aligned Movement.
He acknowledged that obstacles still existed in improving relations between the two countries, especially in terms of the economy, due to economic sanctions imposed by the United States and some European countries on Iran. One of the impacts is that Iranian banks cannot do payments for international trade.
According to Faranzandeh, Iran believed that it could minimize the impacts since for nearly four decades, the government was able to continuously develop the country and people.
(KR-LWA/INE)
EDITED BY INE
(T.SYS/B/KR-BSR/F001)
Reporter: antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
