TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will depart Tehran for neighboring Turkey on Saturday, and is slated to meet with high-ranking Turkish officials in Istanbul.





During the visit, Zarif will hold separate meetings with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

According to a statement by the Turkish foreign ministry, Zarif will hold talks with Turkish officials on bilateral ties as well as the ongoing developments in the Middle East and the world.

Zarif’s trip will come a couple of weeks after Turkish Prime Minister Davutoglu made a trip to Iran on March 4 to hold talks with the country’s senior officials on various issues.

During his visit to the Islamic Republic, he met with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Foreign Minister Zarif, and a number of other senior officials to discuss various issues, including the latest developments in the Middle East region.

Davutoglu’s trip to Iran was the first high-level state visit since President Erdogan traveled to the country in April 2015.

Meanwhile, President Rouhani is also scheduled to visit Ankara and hold talks with his Turkish counterpart Erdogan this spring, media reports said earlier this month.

“It has been decided that President Rouhani will visit Turkey in the middle of spring to meet with President Erdogan,” Sputnik quoted an unnamed Iranian source as saying on March 10.

Despite their differences, Turkey and Iran have largely maintained cordial diplomatic relations.

By Tasnim News Agency