TEHRAN — Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi met on Thursday with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic in New York, stressing the need to increase political and economic cooperation between the two countries.

Raisi said it is necessary to abandon racial and discriminatory approaches in the path towards establishing peace in the world.

He added, “The root cause of the past catastrophes and conflicts in the Balkans was the prevalence of racial approaches. We hope in the new era, peace and friendship will be established and the rights of all races and religions are preserved.”

For his part, the Serbian president appreciated Raisi for agreeing to meet with him and described Serbia as an independent country in Europe that does not follow the West's policies.

Vucic also said protecting peace in the Balkans as one of his country's policies.

He then noted, “We favor development of relations with Iran in all political and economic fields.”