Iran’s Good Neighbourly Policy

By: Kayhan Int’l

Iran’s principled policy of good neighbourliness, ever since the victory of the Islamic Revolution, continues its beneficial course to the exasperation of its avowed enemy, the US.

Yesterday, Tehran hosted the Turkish foreign minister who requested increased supplies of natural gas, emphasizing further promotion of ties in the energy, economy, border security, and other sectors, noting that the two sides share identical views on regional issues, especially the genocide of Israel in Gaza.

Iran currently supplies Turkey with about 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually under a contract signed in 2001. The 25‑year agreement is set to expire in mid‑2026, and Ankara is keen on extending and expanding it in view of the rising energy demand in both household consumption and the manufacturing sector. 

Another western neighbour for Iran is Iraq with its age-old ties in all spheres, such as religion, culture, politics, economy, industry, and energy in spite of the pressures of the US. In 1980, a year after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Washington had imposed a destructive 8-year through its agent Saddam of the tyrannical Ba’th minority regime in a vain bid to create bad blood between the peoples of the two countries.

In addition to supply of natural gas to oil-rich Iraq, the demand for Iranian products in various fields keeps growing in Baghdad and other cities, including the autonomous Kurdish region.

The Iraqi government and people feel deeply indebted to Islamic Iran for helping to defeat the US-backed bid of Daesh to destabilize the country and seize control of Baghdad.

To the east, Iran and Pakistan enjoy cordial relations that are expanding in all fields, much to the chagrin of the US, which is helpless in preventing the steady promotion of bilateral ties.

The recent visit to Islamabad of Iran’s Chief of Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Dr. Ali Larijani, and his fruitful talks with all senior officials confirm the good neighbourliness policy of the Islamic Republic.

Afghanistan has also realized the benefits of relationship with the Islamic Republic of Iran, which provides it with the shortest and safest route to the high seas for trade and commerce.

The two sides share a common language and like Iran’s other neighbours have set up a vital railway connection.

The same is the case of landlocked Turkmenistan on Iran’s northeast and the eagerness of the two gas-rich neighbours to set up multilateral relations with connection by rail and road to other landlocked Central Asian countries and even Russia and China.

In the northwest, Iran follows a principled policy concerning trade and political ties with Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan and is determined to promote and security in the Caucasus.

To its south on the other side of the Persian Gulf, the Arab states though under acute pressure from the US and Israel value ties with the Islamic Republic Iran and enjoy brisk trade and commercial ties.

In short, no amount of sanctions by Washington can hamper Iran’s link with its immediate neighbours as well as other countries of the region in Asia and Africa.