EAM S Jaishankar To Embark On Two-Day Visit To Iran Tomorrow, Likely To Meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will embark on a two-day visit to Iran on Sunday (22 December) for the 19th Joint Commission meeting, which will be co-chaired by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Saturday (21 December).

“External Affairs Minister is visiting Iran on 22-23 December 2019 for the 19th Joint Commission meeting, which is co-chaired by Foreign Minister of Iran,”the MEA said in a statement.

During his visit, EAM Jaishakar is also expected to call on Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, it added.

The visit comes days after a senior US State Department Official said that the Trump administration has provide a “narrow exemption” to India from sanctions on Chabahar project in Iran, reports ANI.

The exemption was reportedly granted as the Chabahar project plays a vital role in transporting India’s humanitarian supplies to war-torn Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the second meeting of the follow-up committee for implementation of the trilateral Chabahar Agreement between India, Afghanistan and Iran at the Joint Secretary/Director General level was held in New Delhi on Friday.

“All the three countries welcomed steady progress in port operations by India Ports Global Ltd company since the taking over of the port operations at Shaheed Beheshti Port at Chabahar in December 2018. It was recognized that over 5 lakh tons of cargo has been handled successfully. This includes exports from Afghanistan through Chabahar Port which began in February 2019,” the MEA said in a statement.