The nuclear agreement to be concluded with Iran is essential from the viewpoint of stability in the Middle-East, which also guarantees security in Europe. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó held talks with Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Javad Zafrin in Tehran.
Mr Szijjártó takes the view that highly disconcerting events are taking place in the Middle-East, including the spread of the Jihadist organisation Islamic State, civil wars and escalating conflicts, and the destabilisation of the region has a markedly negative effect on security in Europe.
„Therefore, the conclusion of a specific nuclear agreement with Iran before 30 June would be a major step forward from the respect of stability in the Middle-East”, Mr Szijjártó said. If the agreement is not concluded, this could have unforeseeable implications because it is quite clear now that the ever more severe conflicts in the Middle-East would be very difficult to resolve without pragmatic cooperation with Iran, the Minister added.
Iran and the six nations – the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany – reached a framework agreement on 2 April which permits Iran to continue to engage in certain nuclear activities serving civilian purposes, and stipulates the international monitoring of those activities in return for the lifting of the sanctions against Iran. The deadline for the finalisation of the technical and legal details of the agreement was set for the end of June. Western countries accused Iran of having attempted to produce nuclear weapons under the pretence of its allegedly civilian nuclear programme; Tehran has consistently denied these allegations.
„The Hungarian Government welcomes Iran’s openness to bringing the nuclear talks to a conclusion within the shortest possible time”, Péter Szijjártó said, who had talks before his visit to Tehran with Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who shares a similar viewpoint.
The Minister pointed out that Hungary fully adheres to the sanctions resolved by the international community, but also supports the efforts which may lead to the finalisation of the deal to be concluded with Iran, and to the ensuing lifting of the sanctions.
„We are pleased to observe that the West, too, is increasingly more open to this”, Mr Szijjártó said. He highlighted that he is the sixteenth European Foreign Minister to have visited Tehran in the past eighteen months, and the United States also significantly increased their exports in the first three months of the year, all of which appears to underline that a process of „rapprochement” is under way.
The two Foreign Ministers identified four areas in the interest of the improvement of Iranian-Hungarian relations at their meeting. The first one is the field of cultural relations. A Hungarian cultural institute will be opened in Tehran: the Hungarian party handed over the relevant draft agreement. The Institute would organise bilateral scientific and cultural cooperation, and would also create the opportunity for learning Hungarian in Tehran.
The second area is education. At present, some two thousand Iranian students study at Hungarian higher education institutions. The Hungarian party has handed over a draft agreement on cooperation in education which lays down, inter alia, the continued maintenance of a Persian department at the ELTE University.
The economy constitutes the third pillar of cooperation. The parties commenced talks on an agreement for the avoidance of double taxation which, in Péter Szijjártó’s view, is essential for companies „to have the trust that is needed for cooperation”. The parties identified four sub-segments in which cooperation may be launched: pharmaceutical industry, food industry, information technology, and water management. Mr Szijjártó pointed out that the continuous decline in drinking water reserves is causing a very grave situation in Iran, and there is therefore great interest in Hungarian water management technologies.
Energy is the fourth prospective area of cooperation. Iranian experts are being trained or further trained in Hungary already now under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). „Once the sanctions have been lifted, we would like to extend this programme, and we would also like to make available Hungarian expertise to nuclear power stations in Iran”, Mr Szijjártó said.
The Minister highlighted that if the nuclear deal is concluded with Iran and the sanctions are lifted, a path may open up to European-Iranian energy cooperation. As Iran has the world’s second largest natural gas reserve and fourth largest oil reserve, this could create entirely new dimensions for Europe in regard to the diversification of its energy procurements.
Mr Szijjártó exchanged with his Iranian counterpart an agreement on the schedule of political consultations between the two Foreign Ministries, which will be signed soon.
The programme of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Tehran includes meetings with Hassan Rouhani, President of Iran, Mohammad-Hassan Aboutorabi Fard, First Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Iran, and Mohammadreza Nematzadeh, Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade.