The National Conference on Iran and Neighbors was held on Monday, 24 January, with the participation of the Institute for Political and International Studies of the Foreign Ministry and the Institute for the Islamic World’s Future Studies.At the conference, Major General Yahya Rahim-Safavi, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, Minister of Economy Ehsan Khandouzi and the scientific secretary of the conference Seyed Jalal Dehghani Firoozabadi, offered their thoughts.In the follow-up to their speeches, seven scholarly panels were held on neighborhood policy, environmental cooperation, political economy, geostrategic rivalries, scientific and cultural exchanges and regional and international corridors. At the conclusion, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian talked about the neighborhood policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iran’s achievements and actions in this regard. He said under the new neighborhood policy, consultations with all neighbors, including on the Vienna talks, is among our priorities.The foreign minister noted that the Islamic Republic of Iran is in vital need of making its competitive advantages operational in a lasting international environment, stressing that this is a key issue and will come out of a coherent neighborhood policy.The neighborhood policy of the 13th administration is based on trust-building and this will hugely help speed up national progress.Amir Abdollahian further expanded on the policy saying the Islamic Republic of Iran faces two major challenges in pursuing this objective: The first is the eastern neighbor, that is Afghanistan. Security of borders is a very significant issue for the Islamic Republic of Iran and this was underlined during the recent meeting with the Taliban officials.The top diplomat said the Afghan side was clearly told that the establishment of an inclusive government in Afghanistan is of prime significance for Iran and that Tehran will take action on recognizing the new Afghan government and handing over its embassy after the formation of the inclusive government. The foreign minister said the second challenge to the neighborhood policy is the issue of Yemen. He said what is going on between Yemen and some neighbors is a Yemeni issue adding that the Islamic Republic of Iran has already tabled its four-point political plan on the subject and supports it. Amir Abdollahian also said the escalation of the war is a source of concern and called on the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to adopt a constructive approach and move to accept an end to the war, ceasefire and intra-Yemeni talks.The foreign minister also backed continuation of talks with Saudi Arabia stressing that whenever this country decides to normalize ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran, we will support reopening of the embassies.During his speech, Amir Abdollahian also talked about Russia, as Iran’s northern neighbor. He declared that a long-term cooperation agreement will be signed between the two countries in the near future, adding that the necessary agreements on the roadmap were reached during the visit by President Ebrahim Raisi to Russia.The top diplomat also touched on some marginal moves on social media stressing that the visit’s achievements were in line with national interests. He noted that nothing took place that would damage Iran’s political decisions.Amir Abdollahian also talked about the Vienna talks. He said the American side is using every means to convey the message that it wants negotiations with Iran at any level.The foreign minister reiterated that, so far, the relation with the US has been through intermediaries. He said, however, that if the negotiations move to a stage where reaching a good and well-guaranteed agreement requires some level of talks with the US, Iran will not ignore this matter.