MFA Press Statement: Call by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Asia and Oceania of the Islamic Republic of Iran Dr Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Law K Shanmugam, 30 April 2013

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Asia and Oceania of the Islamic Republic of Iran Dr Seyed Abbas Araghchi paid a courtesy call on Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Law K Shanmugam on 30 April 2013. Dr Araghchi conveyed a letter from Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Ali Akbar Salehi thanking Minister Shanmugam for Singapore’s condolence letter in the wake of the earthquake that struck Iran's Sistan Baluchistan province.

Minister Shanmugam welcomed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Asian Civilisations Museum and the National Museum of Iran on 15 April 2013 in Tehran on the cooperation and exhibition exchange between the two Museums.

Dr Araghchi is in Singapore to co-chair the inaugural Singapore-Iran Bilateral Consultations between officials of the two Foreign Ministries. The Bilateral Consultations were formalised in a MOU signed in 2010 by then-Minister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo and his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki.

During the Bilateral Consultations there was a frank discussion on regional developments in the Middle East including the Iranian nuclear issue. Singapore made clear that while Iran’s right to the peaceful use of nuclear science and technology was provided for under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), it was important that Iran fully comply with all its international obligations under the relevant United Nations Security Council and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors resolutions. Singapore encouraged Iran to cooperate fully with the IAEA to assuage international concerns about its nuclear programme and expressed the hope that substantial progress could be achieved in negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 countries. An early resolution of these issues was in the interest of Iran as well as all countries in the region.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

30 APRIL 2013