Iranian, Saudi papers commend Khatami's visit to Saudi Arabia

The Iranian dailies published on Monday underlined the importance of the visit held by Iranian President Muhammad Khatami to Saudi Arabia in the service of the causes of the region and Arab-Iranian relations.

The Iranian daily "Iran" stressed that the development of Saudi-Iranian relations has great positive reflections on the security and stability of the region and in strengthening common historical and religious indications between the Arab states and Iran. The Iranian daily added that the visit of the Iranian president is a precious opportunity to reach an agreement on mass -annihilation weapons elimination in the Middle East, to draw up a comprehensive Islamic security project and invest the economic potentials of the Islamic states.

For its part the Iranian daily "Keyhan al-Arab" described Khatami's visit as a work plan and a message to draw prospects for the future. In its Monday editorial the paper called for opening the doors before the Islamic states and their peoples, adding that President Khatami started his Arab tour with Syria "because it stands in the front line in confrontation of the Zionist enemy."

In Saudi Arabia, the Saudi al-Jazira and al-Riyadh dailies underlined the importance of President Khatami's visit in founding solid relations based on mutual confidence and interests and in strengthening Arab-Islamic solidarity.

In its Monday commentary, al-Jazira daily described Khatami's visit to Saudi Arabia as a qualitative turning point for the two countries towards further cooperation for mutual benefits.

Al-Riyadh daily, for its part, said that President Khatami is "the man of hard tasks in the march of his country and in building the frameworks of Iran's relations with the world as a whole."