Pezeshkian made the remarks in a meeting with Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat in Tehran on Wednesday, a few days after militant groups led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), originating from the northwestern Syrian city of Aleppo, made dramatic and stunning advances, ultimately forcing former president Bashar al-Assad to leave the country on December 8.
“What is happening in the region indicates that the Zionist regime has exploited discord within Muslim countries to attack Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, and kill Muslims,” he said.
He added, “If we put aside our differences, the Muslim world will become stronger than ever and the world will interact with us on the basis of mutual respect.”
He urged Muslims to settle their problems “in a brotherly manner” and strengthen the power of the Muslim world “in practice not in word.”
If Muslim countries share their capacities with each other – from trade markets to transportation routes and other potentials – it will “definitely benefit all the Muslim nations, and the Zionist regime and other powers will not dare carry out a criminal act and interfere in Muslims’ affairs.”
The Iranian president noted that in the talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he has always stressed the need to consolidate relations among Muslim countries.
“I strongly believe that Muslim countries should further expand their relations and interaction,” Pezeshkian said.
Elsewhere in his remarks, he expressed Iran’s readiness to improve cooperation with Turkey in all fields, adding that Tehran seeks to create a framework for financial interactions with Turkey aimed at de-dollarization in bilateral trade exchanges.
The president said Iran insists on implementing bilateral agreements and bolstering cooperation “so that the enemies who cast covetous eyes on relations among Muslim states will be disappointed.”
Pezeshkian lashed out at the United States and Europe for imposing “unfair” sanctions on Iran to force the country to yield to them, but all to no avail.
The Turkish minister, who is in Tehran to attend the 29th meeting of the Turkey-Iran Joint Economic Cooperation Commission, said the two countries are working hard to reach the target of $30 billion in bilateral trade.
Bolat added that his country wants to renew its 25-year trade agreement with Iran in the energy sector.
Iran and Turkey will modernize the border gates to facilitate the common customs trade between the two countries, Bolat said and noted that his country is trying to open two more border gates with Iran.
Both countries are also trying to strengthen border crossings and markets between the two countries, he added.
Bolat noted that his country is keen to revive the preferential trade agreement signed with Iran in 2015 and implement a comprehensive agreement on tourism.