Iranian president stresses cooperation in Gulf region

Iranian President Muhammad Khatami on Tuesday received Omani Minister of Trade and Industry Muhammad Bin Ali Bin Sultan, who conveyed to President Khatami a message from Oman's Sultan Qaboos.

Talks dealt with bilateral relations between the two countries and the latest developments in the region under the British - US air strikes against Iraq.

President Khatami asserted the fact that as chairman of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Iran condemned the aggression and demanded that Iraq adhere to the implementation of UN resolutions.

The Iranian President stressed the necessity of cohesion and cooperation between the states located in the Gulf region in order to protect stability and security in this area.

Meanwhlie, Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi said his country supported putting an end to the Iraqi crisis through negotiations. In a press conference he held in Tokyo on Tuesday, the Iranian minister said Iran, in its capacity as president of the Organization of the Islamic Conference OIC, would continue its contacts with Baghdad, main capitals in the region and other states concerned to defuse the crisis.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi said on Tuesday that Iran did not support the US-British military strikes on Iraq, which were terminated on Saturday.

AFP quoted a spokesman for the British Foreign Ministry as saying that Kharazi said during a meeting with his Japanese counterpart that "Iran has a view different from that of Japan" concerning the military strikes against Iraq.

But Kharazi, on the other hand asked Iraq to accept the inspection operations carried out by the UN to dismantle the Iraqi weapons. Kharazi's four-day visit to Japan is the first for an Iranian foreign minister since 1987.