Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has proposed creating a “CIS+Iran” or “CIS+1” format at a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State in Turkmenistan. He said the platform should serve as a flexible and effective mechanism for dialogue and cooperation.
Pezeshkian said regional diplomacy should become a tool for crisis management, maintaining communication, preventing the spread of conflicts and expanding practical cooperation. He stressed that Iran wants stronger links rather than fragmentation.
According to the Iranian president, the country favors cooperation over destructive rivalry, interdependence over one-sided dependence, and security based on trust and shared interests.
He also said Iran is a “gateway” connecting Central Asia to the open sea, while the country’s ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman provide access to South Asia, Africa and Europe.
Pezeshkian added that the North-South and West-East corridors are not competitors but parts of a single regional network. He said he hopes the summit will become a practical step toward a region in which Central Asia, the South Caucasus and Iran act as part of one network of cooperation.
