Iranian foreign minister postpones visit to Turkey

Many critics have said that a nuclear deal signed between Iran and major powers in Vienna last month will lead to a change in the Iranian stance.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif s scheduled visit to Turkey on Tuesday has been postponed, a Turkish foreign ministry official told AFP.

The ministry said the cancelation of the August 11 visit was the result of scheduling problems but did not provide further details.

“This visit is on the agenda but will take place at a later date because the schedules didn’t line up in this time frame”, the official said.

The postponement of the visit came as Turkish opposition daily Cumhuriyet published a page-long article by Zarif written in apparent anticipation of the trip.

The Iranian foreign minister also plans to travel to Pakistan and India on Thursday.

Zarif would have in-depth talks with Pakistan Prime Minister’s Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz.

Lebanese al-Binaa reported earlier that Zarif will meet Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Tammam Salam as well as Hassan Nasrallah, secretary general of the Lebanese political and paramilitary organization Hezbollah.

The world powers – the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany – and Iran on July 14 struck an agreement under which Tehran will curb some but not all aspects of its nuclear programme in exchange for a lifting of worldwide sanctions that have pulverised its economy in recent years.