INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
TEHRAN- The director general of the Regional Affairs Department of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs met on Tuesday with Ali
Bagheri Kani, the Iranian deputy foreign minister for political affairs.Vebjorn Dysvik and the accompanying delegation had traveled to
Tehran for consultations on arranging a meeting between the foreign ministers of Norway and Iran.The two sides also discussed issues of
mutual interest as well as the most significant domestic and international developments, such as Afghanistan and Palestine.Iranian,
Norwegian diplomats discuss ways to achieve peace in YemenIn another meeting on Monday, Dysvik also met with Ali Asghar Khaji, the senior
assistant to Iranian foreign minister for special political affairs, to discuss Yemeni peace negotiations.They discussed the prospects for
peace in Yemen as well as the most recent developments in the negotiations between Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni Ansarullah movement.Khaji
deemed the recent talks between Saudi Arabia and Ansarullah to be on the right track and expressed optimism that the parties would continue
reasonable that are based on the humanitarian needs of the Yemeni people, including establishing a nationwide ceasefire, lifting the
order to turn the short-term truce into a permanent agreement.Eelier, the second joint consular commission of Iran and Norway was held with
the consular directors-general of the two countries presiding over the session
The meeting was held after a seven-year hiatus.At the meeting that was held in a constructive atmosphere and one of understanding, important
consular issues between Iran and Norway including visa issuance, looking into the problems of students, academic cooperation, transit
drivers, illegal refugees and their return to the country and also joint cooperation in humanitarian activities as well as judicial
cooperation were discussed, according to the Iranian foreign ministry.The meeting came against a backdrop of accelerated de-escalation
In recent months, Iran released European prisoners and Belgium released Iranian diplomat Assadullah Assadi.Bernard Phelan, a French-Irish
citizen who was detained and sentenced to 6.5 years in jail for transmitting security intelligence during the height of the upheaval in Iran
last year, has been released on humanitarian grounds
Phelan, a Paris-based travel consultant, was detained in October and was held in a prison in Mashhad, northeastern Iran, and was released in
May.Reportedly, Iranian and European officials have also met recently in the Qatari capital Doha to discuss a number of issues of mutual
