Message from between Iranian president to the Saudi crown prince

Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz on Wednesday in Jeddah received a message from the Iranian President Muhammad Khatami.

The message was conveyed by the secretary general of the national security council and deputy chairman of the Islamic Shoura council in Iran, Hassan Rouhani, during his meeting with the Saudi crown prince. Rouhani conveyed to Crown Prince Abdullah greetings of the Iranian president and the spiritual guidance leader.

Present at the meeting were Saudi Minister of the Interior Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz, several Saudi officials and the Iranian ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Defense Minister Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz left Tehran on Wednesday at the conclusion of a visit to Iran during which Iranian officials asserted their desire to maintain a security cooperation between the two countries.

The Iranian news agency, IRNA, said that the Iranian Vice President Hassan Habibi and Defence Minister Admiral Ali Shamkhani accompanied Prince Sultan to the airport. Habibi said that Tehran and Riyadh share several common objectives and hold unanimous views on the need to develop their relations in the economic, cultural and security fields.

IRNA added that Prince Sultan described the visit as successful. He said this visit aimed at strengthening relations between the two countries.

In Doha, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasem al-Thani discussed with Iranian Foreign Ministry secretary Muhammad Rida Saqr the latest arrangements for the visit of Iranian President Muhammad Khatami to Qatar. The Qatar News Agency said that bilateral relations and means of strengthening them were reviewed.