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sweden allocates long-term credits to iran
vienna, feb. 20, irna -- in a meeting on wednesday between head of swedish official organization of export credits guarantee schell larson and iranian ambassador to sweden abdollah nowrouzi, the swedish official said his country has decided to extend unlimited long-term credits to iranian projects. the iranian ambassador, referring to iran's achievements in economic affairs and international scenes, called on this official credit cover organization to show further flexibility in offering long-term credits to iranian projects.
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majlis speaker: iran has no territorial ambitions
nowshahr, mazandaran prov., feb. 20, irna -- majlis speaker ali-akbar nateq nouri said here wednesday that the islamic republic had never cherished territorial ambitions against any other soil. he said iran antagonizes only the united states and the zionist regime and considers the latter as having been ilegally created. he said as long as the united states maintains the strategy of dominating over other nations, the islamic republic would continue to adhere to the same policies to the united states as it had had after the triumph of the islamic revolution. nateq nouri said every political system may be subverted by simply one plot against it whereas the islamic republic had successfully survived umpteen plots since its establishment. the speaker of the islamic consultative assembly who was addressing a group of the students of the navy academy here wednesday also paid a personal tribute to the martyrs of the navy of the islamic republic during the war years.
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niyazov praises iranian initiative in the region
moscow, feb. 20, irna -- turkmen president saparmurat niyazov appreciated iran's initiative for stablishing a trilateral cooperation in the region. speaking to russain daily nezavisimaya on wendesday, he said that when there is no room for having a bilateral relation with other independent countries, stablishment of a trilateral relation would be a positive alternative for expansion of ties. as a fruitful result of such cooperation, one can mention the recent repayment of ukraine's debts for purchase of natural gas from turkmenisatan, he added. pointing to iranian and turkmen cooperation in the area of oil and gas, niyazov said that during his recent trip to iran he had discussed the acceleration of construction projects of 'goye tapeh' and kard koyu' gas pipelines with the iranian president akbar hashemi rafsanjani. the pipeline are to be operational by the end of 1997 with a total capacity of 2 to 8 billion cubic meter to facilitate the export of turkmen gas to other countries, he said.
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georgian minister calls for expansion of cooperation with iran
rasht, gilan prov. feb. 20, irna -- visiting minister of agriculture and food industries of georgia bakur gulua, met with governor of gilan province seied ali-akbar tahaie here on tuesday night. at the meeting, gulua, who is leading a delegation on a three-day visit to the northern province of iran, called for expansion of cooperation between georgia and the islamic republic of iran. reminding the fact that iran and georgia enjoy historiacal relations, the minister expressed hope that the ''deeply rooted'' ties last for the centuries to come. he then hoped that iranian experts help revive the silk processing industry in georgia. tahaie, for his part, called for expansion of cooperation between iran and the former soviet repubic. tahaie briefed gulua on gilan's production capabilities in the fields of agriculture, fishery, forestry and food production industries. the governor emphasized that gilan can establish broad economic relations with the caspian littoral states as well as georgia.
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first vice president receives greek defense minister
athens, feb. 20, irna -- first deputy president of iran hassan habibi in his meeting with defense minister of greece said that differences between greece and turkey would have to be solved without the intreference of foreign powers. habibi said that nations such as greece which boast of a rich historical culture must make an effort to solve all regional crises peacefully and solely be negotiations. he said the islamic republic is for peace and stability in the balkans and added that iran would offer every possible help towards defusing tension in the balkans. habibi said resort to force by either greece or turkey would not be in the interest of either side. the greek official appreciated the position of iran and added that athens endeavoured to act peacefully in a bid to check tension in the region. he said relations between the two countries had considerably improved and that it could broaden further with the aid of both coutries.
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vaezi, pangalos discuss regional cooperation
athens, feb. 20, irna -- iranian deputy foreign minister for euro-american affairs, mahmoud vaezi, met greek foreign minister theodoros pangalos in athens wednesday and discussed bilateral and multilateral regional cooperation. iranian diplomatic sources told irna that the two officials discussed the prospects of greek-iranian bilateral cooperation to expand to quadrilateral cooperation to include armenia and georgia. the issue is to be discussed in future meetings of officials of both countries in the coming months. pangalos, who visited the islamic republic last year, reiterated greece's desire to strengthen relations with iran on all levels. vaezi is accompanying iran's first vice-president hassan habibi who arrived in athens tuesday on a 3-day official visit, his first to greece. meanwhile, a top greek foreign ministry official described habibi's talks with greek government officials as "very successful." "mr. habibi's visit is of great significance and his talks with the greek leadership were very constructive and successful," the greek official told irna requesting anonymity. habibi met and discussed bilateral relations, economic cooperation and regional and international issues with greek prime minister costas simitis, president of the republic costis stephanopoulos, parliament president apostolos kaklamanis and other greek politicians.
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khatami invites presidential candidates to be tolerant of others
tehran, feb. 20, irna -- presidential advisor and member of the high council of cultural revolution mohammad khatami said in isfahan wednesday that any world view that encourages and promotes development should tolerate the rivals and allow people to exercise their right to choose. speaking in a meeting with theologians and university professors in isfahan, the presidential aspirant stressed that all those who believe in the principles of the islamic revolution should be present in the scene. turning to common points among all groups and factions and their different proposals for running the state of affairs, he said, ''we must not allow ourselves to accept that one certain group dominate the government. evrybody loyal to the principles of the islamic system should have the right to choose and to be present in the scene.''
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president rakhmanov leavs for mashhad to attend peace talks
dushanbe, feb. 20, irna -- tajik president imomali rakhmanov left here thursday morning for mashhad, the iranian northeastern city, to meet with the leader of the tajik opposition abdullah nouri. rakhmanov is accompanied with a number of government officials including representatives of tajik government in rotating peace talks. the latest developments in tajikistan as well as holding the new round of peace talks which is to be held in moscow soon will be among topics to be discussed in mashhad. the composition of tajik national reconciliation council will be the major issue to be reviewed by president rakhmanov and nouri.
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daily: wto's opportunity to test capability
tehran, feb. 20, irna -- a morning daily thursday wrote that the menace of trade war to the world peace is more serious today than that of the nuclear weapons, stressing that wto can and should play its part in thwarting this threat. the english language 'tehran times' in its editorial further added that in the context of the emerging world order europe doesn't need the backing of the u.s. as much as it used to during the cold war. ''the helms-burton and d'amato legislations have extraterritorial characteristics,'' said the daily, adding, ''implementation of these laws will be tantamount to direct interference in internal affairs of other countries.'' this is why europe, japan, canada, russia, china, india and several other countries have strongly opposed these laws, it said. stressing that the post-cold war world requires specific international measures to regulate the emerging world order, the article said the u.s.-european trade dispute will be a good opportunity for the wto to examine its capability in maintaining the world peace.
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tajik president in mashhad for talks with opposition leader
mashhad, feb. 20, irna -- president imamali rahmanov arrived here on thursday to go ahead with peace talks with the leader of tajik opposition seyed abdullah nouri. the agenda of the talks has focused on the issues still to be solved in the way of peace in tajikistan. mashhad peace talks is the third round of talks between tajik government and the opposition in the past two months. a foreign ministry official said that the topics of declaring general amnesty, laying down of arms by the opposition, granting security for the members of the opposition, determining the authority of the national reconciliation commission and putting into practice of the peace agreement signed in moscow on december 23, 1996 would be discussed in the rahmanov-nouri meeting. the deadly civil war in tajikistan in the past four years since the takeover of president rahmanov in 1992 took the toll of 50,000 on tajik people.
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ninth preparatory session of irano-indian joint commission held in tehran
tehran, feb. 19, irna -- the ninth preparatory session of irano-india joint commission was held in tehran on wednesday. the session was attended by high ranking officials from various ministries and organizations of iran and india. the irano-indian joint commission is due to convene next saturday and will be chaired jointly by the foreign ministers of both countries.