Foreign Minister Concludes Visit to Spain
June 21, 1998 - 0:0
TEHRAN Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi wound up his two-day visit to Spain and returned to Tehran Saturday morning. During his visit, which took place at the invitation of his Spanish counterpart Abel Matutes, Kharrazi met with high-ranking officials. According to IRNA, in his talks with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and with his counterpart, kharrazi outlined Iran's outlooks towards relations with Spain and the European Union. He also met with Spanish industrialists in which he elaborated on Iran's economic specifications and potentials for investment as well as bilateral trade. In his press conferences in Madrid, the Iranian foreign minister also outlined Iran's political and cultural stands. On Friday, the members of Iran-Spain Society held a meeting with Kharrazi, discussing on the activities and the goals of the friendship society for the betterment of cordial relations between the peoples of two nations. Alfandro Loreja, the head of the Friendship Society said Iran-Spain Society have the objective of promoting relations through sponsering of dialogue between civilizations among the research scholars, professors and university students of the two nations. The society intends to contact the different universities in Iran, exchange visits and tours and hold seminars for the bolstering of two nations' relations to become acquainted with the rich Iranian culture, Loreja said. Iran's foreign minister considered such activities of the friendship society beneficial in the promotion of relations. The exchange of information on the history, tourism, trade, and culture and language to be of great significance, stated Kharrazi. Calling the two countries' relations as historical, Kharrazi stated, Since Iran-Spain relations are historically deep-rooted, it is constructive in the smooth promotion of mutual ties. A joint session was held between the members of the Foreign Policy Commission at Spanish Congress of Deputies and the Iranian foreign minister on Thursday. The Spanish officials said in the meeting that Iran's efforts to help solve regional crises in Asia are praiseworthy from the viewpoints of Europe and the global community. Spanish parliamentarians, calling Iran's role in restoring stability and tranquility in the Central Asian and the Caucasus republics as significant, thanked Iran for helping cessate clashes in Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Underlining that Spanish Congress follows developments in Iran with interest, the Spanish deputies said that they were fully aware of Iran's importance and status in the international scenes and Tehran's role in establishing peace and security in the region and respect it. They said that Spanish Congress is for closer ties between Iranian and Spanish nations and governments and are for increasing mutual cooperation. Kharrazi said for his part that Iran's policy is based on restoration of stability and calm in the region. He said there would be efforts to consolidate bases of peace through expansion of economy in the Central Asian and the Caucasus republics. Relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the European Union (EU) are being reconstructed and the preliminary talks held between Tehran and the EU are constructive based on the two sides' will. Iran, stressing the policy of detente and expansion of relations with other countries, believes that dialogue among religions and civilizations could bring countries closer to each other, said Kharrazi, adding that relations between Iran and Spain are excellent and Spain is Iran's major trade partner. Iran and Spain are trying to expand bilateral relations in the political, economic, industrial and cultural fields, he added. Kharrazi hailed the role of parliamentary relations between Iran and Spain in expansion of bilateral ties and said that Iran welcomes expanding parliamentary relations and forming friendship groups. He said that one of the reasons for nuclear race is refusal of world's five major atomic powers to abide by the nuclear Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and to dismatle nuclear weapons. Iran is trying to halt nuclear race, he concluded.