Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday said he would visit Türkiye soon as he hailed “friendly” relations between the neighbors.
During his first news conference since taking office, Pezeshkian called Türkiye "a friendly and brotherly nation" that his government will engage in joint investment programs, according to the Iranian state news agency IRNA.
He said he intends to visit Türkiye soon, aiming to invite Turkish officials, investors and academics to Iran to strengthen ties and boost trade volume to $30 billion (TL 1.02 trillion) between the two countries.
He said his government would maintain the cordial relations the previous administration had with Ankara.
“They drew a borderline between us but both sides of that line are one and the same. Our beliefs and cultures are intertwined,” Pezeshkian said. “We must absolutely develop our relations with Türkiye.”
Proposing a travel route that would enable Turkish and Iranian citizens to visit Turkmenistan, Pakistan and Afghanistan through Iran, Pezeshkian said Tehran wishes the joint investments in Türkiye and Iran are also made in Pakistan, Afghanistan and other regional countries.
Pezeshkian, 69, was sworn in on July 31, in the presence of top-ranking government officials and dignitaries from at least 70 countries.
Last week, he visited Iraq on his first foreign trip as president.
Türkiye and Iran put away their hostilities in the 17th century and, since then, pursued close ties, regardless of regime changes, replacing an empire with a republic, etc. But culturally close ties occasionally strained over other conflicts in the region.
More recently, Ankara and Tehran found themselves on opposing sides in the Syria civil war, with Tehran backing the Assad regime and Türkiye siding with the opposition. Yet, the situation never actually translated into an all-out conflict between the two neighbors while trade relations between Türkiye and Iran remained unaffected.
Ankara and Tehran are among staunch supporters of the Hamas liberation movement, whose incursion into Israel in October 2023 was followed by Israel's ceaseless attacks on the Gaza Strip, which killed more than 40,000 people, mostly children and women.
Iran has vowed a response to the July 31 killing of senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran apparently by Israel, triggering alarm for the wider region as Türkiye accuses Tel Aviv of attempting to spread the conflict beyond Gaza.
