Turkey Won’t Pursue Complaint against Iran

Pakistan’s role in the case of the Iranian border guards is still unclear. While Iran’s Interior Minister recently placed the responsibility of the fate of these 5 border guards on the shoulders of the Pakistani government and stated that we cannot guard Pakistan’s region and if the government of Pakistan does not take proper measure in liberating these Iranians, Iran will have the right to enter this country, Islamabad issued a statement in reaction to his remarks and reiterated that “Iranian forces have no right to pass through Pakistan’s borders and such a measure would be in violation of international laws”.

In response to a question about the responsibility of the Pakistani government in this case, Ebrahim Rahimpour, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia and Oceania, stated that, “We could help with any shortcoming Pakistan might have in this case so that the eastern borders would be safe.”

With regard to the question of whether the repetition of these issues shows the inability of the government of Pakistan in dealing with such groups, he added, “I believe that this issue is more related to the power of Iran and Pakistan’s enemies, thus, Pakistan must be helped to reduce its weak points.”

In response to a question about the possibility of some Arab states supporting the terrorist groups which are present in this region, Rahimpour said, “In general, there seems to be a trace of foreign countries but their identities must be discovered in more expert discussions.”

He further reiterated that Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan’s Prime Minister, is supposed to visit Iran in the next few days to talk about the issues between Iran and Pakistan including the presence of the terrorist groups.

On the other hand, the investigation into Turkey’s complaint against Iran with regard to Iran’s gas exports has begun in the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Turkey’s complaint against Iran has two dimensions. On one hand, Turkey claims that during the past 53 days, Iran’s gas exports to this country have not reached the agreed amount and 25% of the volume has been reduced. Based on this claim, Turkish officials claim that Iran is not considered as a sustainable energy provider for Turkey. It has, thus, demanded a compensation of damages of 2 to 2.5 billion dollars.

In this regard, Rahimpour pointed out, “There is an item in the contract of Iran’s gas sales to Turkey based on which both sides can have claims about the price of gas if regional prices of gas exports change and then refer the issue to the proper tribunals.”

He further added, “Filing a complaint against a country does not mean that there is a dispute between two countries. There have been similar cases between Iran and our allies which have been referred to the international legal institutions.”

The Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia and Oceania believes that this case will not go that far that the Turkish officials would pursue the legal resolution of this matter. Iran also once made a similar claim about the S300 missiles which Russia had not delivered but did not legally pursue this matter.

Rahimpour stated that there is no concern about the possibility of the impact of this complaint on relations between the two countries and said, “Iran and Turkey have many common interests and, among 50 issues, there might be one or two cases of difference, just as there is a difference of opinion about Syria between Iran and Turkey, but this has not led to the cutting off of relations.”

With regard to the claims made by some Afghan media with regard to Iran’s involvement in the future elections of this country based on the visits of some of the candidates to Tehran during the past few months, Rahimpour pointed out, “Iran has no involvement in Afghanistan’s elections and, since Iran is the second home of many Afghans, their visits to Iran are completely natural.”