TEHRAN -- Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine ben Ali gave Tunisian Republican Decoration to Iran's outgoing ambassador Mahmoud Mohammadi on Friday while calling for furthered ties between the two counties.

In a farewell meeting, the Tunisian president was pleased over the pace of progress in the bilateral ties with Iran and said good political cooperation has now provided better grounds to embark on the joint economic activities and projects.

Iran is a cradle of civilization and President Khatami has promoted the image of the country on the international stage, he stated.

He described Tehran-Tunis bilateral ties as "positive" and stressed the need to expand economic, cultural, scientific and religious relations.

Mohammadi thanked the efforts by the Tunisian president to promote the dialogue amongst civilizations championed by President Khatami of Iran and to broaden the mutual relations.

The Iranian envoy called for implementation of accords already reached between the two sides as a way to promote the bilateral economic, technical and scientific relations.

Referring to the important status of Tunisia in Africa, he called for further reinvigoration of cooperation to solve regional and international crises and to fight against terrorism.

Pointing to the tremendous economic and industrial potentials of Iran and Tunisia, Mohammadi said their strategic location in two important regions of the world is a strong incentive for expansion of economic cooperation.

The Iranian envoy said Iran and Tunisia have many things in common such as their stances in politics and role in regional and international developments as well as in the Middle East issue, IRNA reported.

He emphasized that Iran's foreign policy is based on détente, trust building, mutual understanding, promoting the spirit of cooperation as well as expansion of global peace and security.

To meet these goal, the Islamic Republic of Iran has prioritized contacts with Muslim countries as well as the African states to forge unity among Islamic states, he said.

Mohammadi noted that to materialize the idea of "dialogue among civilizations", the Islamic Republic of Iran has proposed the idea of "coalition for peace" which should be consolidated through dialogue, peace and world security.

Iran and Tunisia, as cradles of culture and ancient civilizations, play a very significant role in strengthening and materializing "dialogue among civilizations" and "coalition for world peace", he added.

Iran is ready to exchange experience in various industrial and economic sectors with Tunisia, he concluded.