The 19th Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) ministerial meeting was held in the Iranian capital Tehran on Monday.
Iran’s IRIB News Agency reported that 41 foreign delegations consisting of foreign ministers and representatives of Asian countries and secretaries-general of nine international organizations, including a delegation led by Bangladesh’s former State Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, and current parliament member Mr. Shahriar Alam, were present at the meeting.
In a message to the meeting, Iran’s Interim President Mohammad Mokhber said that the holding of the meeting would be another step towards further solidarity among the Asian states.
He stressed that utilizing effective multilateral mechanisms and enhancing intra-group relations to drive Asia’s development was of great importance, and had various strategic dimensions.
Mokhber said Iran had always paid attention to boosting ties with Asian states while seeking to maintain balanced relations with other countries of the world, noting that Asian countries held a special and outstanding place in Iran’s foreign policy.
Iran’s Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani said that hosting the ministerial meeting of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue Forum shows Iran’s determination to use all opportunities to strengthen multilateralism, cooperation and integration in Asia.
He wrote on the X Social Network that the meeting provided an opportunity for representatives of member states and secretaries general of Asian international organizations to discuss and exchange views on the agenda items of the meeting and the perspective of the activities of the forum.
He also said, Asia and the world are still deeply saddened and shocked by the ongoing atrocities and genocide committed by the Zionist regime in the Gaza Strip. The humanitarian crisis in Palestine has been going on for more than eight months and the international community has failed to stop attacks against innocent people, especially women and children, under the obstruction of the hegemonic regime. Meanwhile, ACD member states have made efforts to end these crimes, establish a ceasefire and provide humanitarian aid to Gaza. As a step towards the goals of ACD, joint efforts in this field, which were also emphasized at the Tehran meeting, are still necessary.
