Dutch Foreign Minister to visit Iran
It's the first time in 14 years that a Dutch foreign minister is visiting Iran
PHOTO: AFP
HAGUE:
Holland's Foreign Minister Bert Koenders will travel to Iran on Sunday for a two-day visit, the first by a top Dutch diplomat for some 14 years.
Koenders trip, announced Saturday by the foreign ministry, follows hot on the heels of other European ministers keen to restore links with Tehran in the wake of the historic July nuclear accord struck between the Islamic Republic and global powers.
"It's the first time in 14 years that a Dutch foreign minister is visiting Iran," the ministry said in a statement saying Koenders' trip would take place on Sunday and Monday.
Read: Improving healthcare: Iran gifts five hospitals to Sindh
He will meet Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for talks on implementing the nuclear deal, under which Iran will sharply curtail its nuclear programme in return for a gradual lifting of economic sanctions.
They will also discuss trade links, human rights and Iran's role in the upheavals in the Middle East.
Koenders said he hoped to give "fresh impetus" to his country's ties with Iran and provide "greater opportunity to talk constructively with each other."
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius - one of the main negotiators of the deal reached in Vienna on July 14 - has already visited Tehran, as have British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.
Read: Britain to reopen embassy in Tehran this weekend
Other European visitors to Iran - which has had frozen ties with much of the outside world for the past decade or so due to its suspect nuclear programme - include Austrian President Heinz Fischer and German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel.
The easing of international sanctions on Iran following the deal struck with the so-called P5+1 group - Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States - will unlock a flow of investment to the Islamic Republic.
The economy of the oil-rich nation of 80 million people has been severely hit by the sanctions.
Holland's Foreign Minister Bert Koenders will travel to Iran on Sunday for a two-day visit, the first by a top Dutch diplomat for some 14 years.
Koenders trip, announced Saturday by the foreign ministry, follows hot on the heels of other European ministers keen to restore links with Tehran in the wake of the historic July nuclear accord struck between the Islamic Republic and global powers.
"It's the first time in 14 years that a Dutch foreign minister is visiting Iran," the ministry said in a statement saying Koenders' trip would take place on Sunday and Monday.
Read: Improving healthcare: Iran gifts five hospitals to Sindh
He will meet Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for talks on implementing the nuclear deal, under which Iran will sharply curtail its nuclear programme in return for a gradual lifting of economic sanctions.
They will also discuss trade links, human rights and Iran's role in the upheavals in the Middle East.
Koenders said he hoped to give "fresh impetus" to his country's ties with Iran and provide "greater opportunity to talk constructively with each other."
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius - one of the main negotiators of the deal reached in Vienna on July 14 - has already visited Tehran, as have British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.
Read: Britain to reopen embassy in Tehran this weekend
Other European visitors to Iran - which has had frozen ties with much of the outside world for the past decade or so due to its suspect nuclear programme - include Austrian President Heinz Fischer and German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel.
The easing of international sanctions on Iran following the deal struck with the so-called P5+1 group - Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States - will unlock a flow of investment to the Islamic Republic.
The economy of the oil-rich nation of 80 million people has been severely hit by the sanctions.