Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has arrived in Tehran at the head of a high-ranking delegation for an official state visit.
Erdogan, who arrived early Wednesday morning with his wife and daughter, was greeted at the airport by Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi, the IRNA news agency reported.
The Turkish leader is scheduled to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, First Vice-President Mohammed Reza Rahimi and Majlis (Parliament) Speaker Ali Larijani during his two-day visit.
On the agenda are the issues of Iran’s nuclear development program and the raging civil war in Syria, as well as other “regional issues and bilateral relations,” IRNA reported. Turkey, which recently closed its embassy in Syria, has offered to host the next round of talks between Iran and Western nations, according to the AFP news agency.
Erdogan was accompanied by his country’s foreign minister as well as the ministers for energy, economy and urban development.
A second-tier Turkish security delegation also made the trip. Among those who arrived in Tehran with Erdogan were the Undersecretary of Turkish Intelligence, the deputy chief of the Turkish General Staff, the head of Turkey’s Atomic Energy Organization, and three parliamentary deputies.