Oman's minister of defense affairs in Iran

Oman's Minister of Defense Affairs Bader Bin Saud al-Busaeedi arrived in Tehran Saturday carrying a communique from Sultan Qabus to the Iranian President Muhammad Khatami.

In an arrival statement, the Omani minister said that his visit aims at holding talks with Iranian officials on the "political and military fields." He expressed hope that his visit would contribute to developing and strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries.

For his part, the Iranian defense minister Admiral Ali Shamkhanii who welcomed his Omani counterpart at the airport stressed Iran's care to develop and strengthen "defense and political relations with Oman." He added he will discuss with his Omani counterpart "issues of mutual concern to the two countries." Noting the current crisis between Iraq and the US, Shamkhani added: "we condemn any military act against Iraq and at the same time we call upon Iraq to abide by UN Security Council resolutions."