Hungary and Iran are working on the development of bilateral economic relations – Szijjártó

Hungary and Iran are working on the development of bilateral economic relations, which could contribute to Tehran's return to peaceful cooperation within the international community as soon as possible, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Thursday.

Speaking at a press conference following the second meeting of the Hungarian-Iranian Joint Economic Committee within the year, the minister said that after Tuesday's missile incident in Poland, everyone should realise that it would be best for the whole world if as many conflicts as possible could be brought to an end.

"This requires common sense and a pragmatic approach. And that is what we are applying when we work on developing economic cooperation between Hungary and Iran," he said.

Szijjártó spoke alongside the Iranian Minister of Economy and Finance, stressing that in recent days it has become clear how little is needed for the current war to have uncontrollable consequences – MTI reports.

"It was reassuring to see that key global and European decision-makers have shown a markedly excellent example of strategic calm, composure and responsible behaviour. It is an important lesson that not everything is what it seems at first glance, and in such tense situations, one should not believe fake news and unsubstantiated statements.

We would like Iran to return to a system of peaceful cooperation within the international community as soon as possible, and as the world economy is now facing serious challenges, we think that the economy could perhaps be the first step towards this return,"

the Foreign Minister said.

What Szijjártó failed to mention, however, is that according to Western and Ukrainian intelligence sources, Iran is supplying Russia with drones, which the Russian military is using against targets in Ukraine. In early November, Iran had already admitted that it had supplied drones to Russia, but claimed that it had done so before the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war. The drone deliveries led the European Union to introduce sanctions against Iran.

At the press conference, Szijjártó also said that the meeting had reviewed ways for developing cooperation between the two countries. He said it was good news that the volume of bilateral trade had increased by 45 percent last year and by 55 percent so far this year, thanks to an increase in Hungarian textile and pharmaceutical exports to Iran and an increase in Iranian imports of plastics. He mentioned that 2,000 Iranian students are currently studying in Hungary on a self-financed basis, mainly in health sciences and economics, and the Hungarian state also provides 150 scholarships for students from Iran.

The Hungarian Foreign Minister pointed out that Iran, which shares borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan, plays an important role in reducing the migration to Europe. "The better Iran is able to protect its borders, the fewer migrants will reach Europe from this part of the world," he said.