October 31, The Iran Project -��Heading a diplomatic delegation, Iran's Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in Istanbul on Monday (Oct. 29) to participate in the 6th trilateral meeting of the Iranian, Turkish, and Azeri foreign ministers.

During his stay in Turkey, the Iranian foreign minister also held bilateral talks with his Turkish and Azeri counterparts ahead of the meeting, and he attended�the�opening ceremony for Turkey�s newest airport in the city, as well.

The trilateral meeting in Istanbul was held, among Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran, Mevlut Cavusoglu of Turkey, and Elmar Mammadyarov of Azerbaijan, behind the closed doors for discussing issues concerning the three countries.

The three neighbors have also coordinated political cooperation on regional issues like contributing to peace and stability in the region.

A final statement was issued by the three foreign ministers after Istanbul meeting and also announced that the next meeting would be held in Iran.

At a joint press conference following the gathering, the top Iranian diplomat said, "Cooperation among Tehran, Ankara and Baku is very important for development of the three countries, development of the region, the improvement of living conditions and the promotion of regional peace and security which is unfortunately facing with multiple challenges."

He expressed hope that regional issues, particularly problems of the Syrian, Palestinian and Yemeni peoples, would be solved peacefully.

FM Zarif went on to add that�we agreed to trade in our domestic currencies.

According to the Iranian minister, the decision would protect the economic relations of the three countries against external interference, adding that the three countries share history, culture and religion.

The minister noted that a technical body was established and will meet to develop a plan for the next three years.

Moreover, in an interview with IRNA on the sidelines of his trilateral meeting, Zarif stated that "The world community has withstood the US sanctions as is testified by the neighboring and European countries� strong resistance against Washington�s unilateral action."

Americans failed to meet their targets due to issuing �illegal� sanctions against Iran, he noted.

Earlier,�upon his arrival in Istanbul on Monday, Zarif had told reporters that nothing new would happen after the imposition of the second batch of US sanctions.

During the five previous gatherings, Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan exchanged views on a broad range of issues in various economic fields including transit, transportation, energy, and customs, as well as political issues.

The last meeting of this kind was held in the Azeri capital of Baku in December 2017, and the one before that in the northern Iranian city of Ramsar in April 2016.