Staff Reporter:
Iranian envoy to Bangladesh Jalil Rahimi Jahanabadi has said his country has no concern over any decision regarding possible joining of Bangladesh in the Mecca Defense Pact.
“Tehran considers Dhaka’s foreign policy balanced and does not view the initiative as directed against Iran,” the ambassador told journalists after a courtesy call on State Minister for Foreign Af-fairs Humaiun Kobir in the ministry yesterday.
“Regarding the foreign policy of the Bangladesh government, we are well aware that your govern-ment pursues a very balanced foreign policy. Therefore, any decision made by your government does not concern or worry us,” he said.
Jahanabadi said, “We do not view the Makkah Pact as an initiative aimed against Iran. Tehran in-stead considers the proposed arrangement “a clear sign of the weakness of United States security in the Middle East.”
The ambassador said Iran has no conflict with Saudi Arabia and maintains good relations with Ri-yadh, while Türkiye and Pakistan are “very good friends” of the Islamic Republic. Therefore, we have no concerns regarding the Makkah Peace Pact,” he said.
Asked whether Tehran had sought to join the proposed pact, the envoy said Iran had neither sub-mitted a formal request nor made any proposal to become a member.
“However, if an invitation or offer is extended to us by the member states of the Makkah Pact, we will consider it,” he said.
The ambassador recalled that Iran had itself proposed a similar regional security arrangement about a decade ago, including the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free Middle East and a joint defence pact among Islamic countries in the region.
“We do not regard the Makkah Pact as a threat to Iran, and we remain entirely unconcerned,” he added.
Referring to the recent military confrontation involving Iran and the United States, the ambassador said Tehran targeted US military installations in countries in the region but not attacked the sover-eign territory of Arab states.
Earlier, during his meeting with the Iranian ambassador, State Minister Kobir expressed Bangla-desh’s hope for an early end to tensions in the region and for lasting peace and stability in the in-terest of people within and beyond the region.
The two sides also discussed issues of mutual interest during the meeting a Foreign Ministry press release said.
