TEHRAN The visiting Director General of Foreign Relations and EU Department of Spain's Foreign Ministry Carlos Bastache underlined the important role of Iran in regional peace and stability and expressed his country's desire to boost bilateral cooperation with Iran in political, economic and cultural fields. The Spanish official made the statement in a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi here Saturday evening.

In the meeting, he presented a written message from the Spanish foreign minister to Kharrazi inviting him to pay an official visit to Spain. Referring to the exchange of political and economic delegations between the two countries as a prelude to further develop Tehran-Madrid cooperation in public and private sectors, Bastache said that due to Iran's strategic location providing an important link with the Central Asia and Caucasus region, his country is eager to use Iran's expertise and upgrade bilateral economic cooperation with the Islamic Republic. The Iranian foreign minister, for his part, stressed the necessity of promoting economic and commercial cooperation between Iran and Spain and described as positive and fruitful the two countries' cooperation in developing the free trade zones in Iran. He also expressed Iran's readiness to expand cooperation with European countries based on mutual respect.