Cairo, Aug 29 (IANS) Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah on Saturday called for de-escalation and a return to diplomacy and negotiations between Iran and the United States during a phone call, according to Egypt’s Foreign Ministry.
The two ministers discussed rapidly evolving regional developments and ways to contain the current escalation, the Egyptian ministry said in a statement.
They agreed that de-escalation and the resumption of negotiations between Iran and the United States should be a priority, highlighting the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by Iran and the United States on June 18 as a framework to restart talks and reach political solutions that could spare the region further tension and instability, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The ministers also exchanged views on regional security concerns and called for addressing all sources of tension in ways that promote regional security and stability, the statement said.
They also reaffirmed the principles of good-neighbourliness, respect for states’ sovereignty and territorial integrity, and non-interference in their internal affairs, calling for disputes to be resolved through peaceful and diplomatic means, it noted.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Friday that Iran will negotiate with the United States, but remains wary of Washington, stressing that Tehran will honour its commitments only if the other side does the same.
Pezeshkian made the remarks in a televised interview broadcast Friday night, responding to questions about whether ongoing diplomatic efforts could revive the peace memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by Iran and the United States in June and restore the Iranian nation’s rights.
“We can move forward” if Iran’s actions are met with reciprocal and proportional actions from the other side, the Iranian president said, acknowledging that the two sides might not achieve all their objectives.
Under the MoU to end the war in the region, Tehran and Washington were scheduled to hold negotiations within 60 days, which ended on Aug. 17, to reach a final agreement.
The fate of the talks remains unclear following the escalation between the two countries last month.
–IANS
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