Iran working to open embassy in Myanmar

Iran working to open embassy in Myanmar

Sunday Jan 20, 2013
Press TV

Iran’s permanent mission will soon be established in Myanmar. The decision comes after a parliamentary delegation came back from a four-day visit to the Southeast Asian country.

Iran and Myanmar setting a new tone; both sides are now considering an extension of diplomatic relations. Initial talks have been held and Iran says it will soon open its embassy in Myanmar. Although no timeframe has been provided officials say both sides have made the necessary preparations.

According to spokesman of the parliament’s Foreign Policy Commission, Seyyed Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, the foreign ministry has taken the first steps and the Myanmarese side is also following up on the issue of opening the embassies while in the parliament the national security and foreign policy committee is taking care of the legalities.

This comes after a four-day visit by an Iranian parliamentary delegation to Myanmar in order to assess the humanitarian situation and investigate the ethnic clashes on the western coast of the country. They held talks with Myanmar authorities regarding the minority Rohingya Muslims and visited 5 of the 64 camps for the displaced where according their report Muslims were in a dire situation. The Iranian delegation says they are optimistic that the Myanmarese government will help alleviate the situation.

Earlier this month, Iran's 24-ton consignment of humanitarian aid. Some 800,000 Rohingyas are deprived of citizenship rights and suffer from a policy of discrimination that has denied them the right of naturalization and made them vulnerable to acts of violence and persecution.

Iran says in coordination with Myanmar officials it will set up a camp in order to accommodate Rohingya refugees and propose a plan to stop the violence.