Iran’s Zarif stresses good grounds for New Zealand ties

Iran and New Zealand’s favorable capacities for the all-out development of relations, especially in trade and economic sectors, are among the very fertile grounds for the development of cooperation between the two countries,” Zarif said at the meeting with Eamon O’Shaughnessy on Monday, AVA Diplomatic reports.O’Shaughnessy, who is to replace Brian Sanders as the head of Wellington’s mission to Tehran, offered his credentials to the Iranian top diplomat during the meeting.

He congratulated the Iranian foreign minister on the occasion of the Persian New Year and offered a report on New Zealand’s foreign policy approaches at bilateral and international levels.

New Zealand has had an embassy in Tehran since April 1975, making it the country’s longest-standing mission in the Middle East.

New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully named O’Shaughnessy as the country’s ambassador to Iran last month.

O’Shaughnessy, who will also be accredited to Pakistan, has previously served in Kabul, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.