Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov. (Archive)

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian expressed Iran's opposition to the presence of outsiders in the region, saying that positive stances taken by regional states would help resolve problems.

Amir-Abdollahian and his Azeri counterpart, Jeyhun Bayramov, spoke by phone on Saturday about the most important bilateral and regional issues.

Iran's top diplomat congratulated the government and people of the Azerbaijan Republic on the start of 2023 and expressed hope that relations between Tehran and Baku would expand in various political and economic fields in the coming year, according to the Foreign Ministry's website.

He also expressed Iran’s readiness to promote cooperation with Azerbaijan in the transportation and transit sector.

Amir-Abdollahian reaffirmed Iran's opposition to foreign countries' presence in the region, emphasizing that regional countries are capable of resolving regional problems properly by adopting positive approaches.

Among the other issues raised by Iran's foreign minister during the conversation were the formation of working groups for media activities on both sides, as well as the investigation of water scarcity and pollution in the Aras River between the two countries.

For his part, Bayramov underlined the importance of cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran. He also noted that Baku is interested in holding a session of the joint economic commission of the two countries in early 2023 and boosting trade and economic ties with Iran.

It is noteworthy that, on December 22, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jehon Bayramov stressed, more than once, the importance of Iranian-Azeri relations despite recent tensions on the border between the two countries.

Iran has expressed its willingness to resolve the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia peacefully, stressing its willingness to help resolve the issue through political means.