IRNA � Heart of Asia Conference kicked off in the capital of Azerbaijan Republic on Friday morning with the presence of high-ranking officials from around the world including the Iranian Foreign Minister of Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif.


Zarif arrived in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Friday morning from the Italian capital, Rome, where he addressed the Third Edition of Rome Mediterranean Dialogues.

The Hear of Asia conference is to focus on the issue of Afghanistan and presidents of Azerbaijan and Afghanistan as well as representatives from 14 countries as participant states, 17 countries from outside the region and 12 regional and international organizations that are supporting the agenda of Heart of Asia are attending the event.

The Iranian foreign minister is to address the conference and also hold separate talks with the Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister of the country Elmar Mammadyarov as well as his counterpart from Pakistan Khawaja Muhammad Asif.

Since its inception in 2011, the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process has been a regional venue for high level political consultation among countries from the three geographically interconnected regions of the Caspian and Central Asia, the Middle East, and South Asia all connected through Afghanistan � the Heart of Asia.

The very idea of Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process is to promote regional cooperation among countries in the region with a focus on stabilizing Afghanistan, a country that can support intra-regional trade and economic connectivity to benefit regional economic development and prosperity.