Nateq Nouri arrives in Riyadh

The chairman of the Islamic Shoura council in Iran, Ali Akbar Nateq Nouri, arrived in Riyadh on Sunday for an official visit.

In a statement to the Saudi news agency, Nouri said his visit to Saudi Arabia comes at the invitation of the chairman of the Saudi Shoura council, Sheikh Muhammad Bin Ibrahim Bin Jubeir.

He added that during the visit, "Views were exchanged on parliamentary relations in the course of the embodiment of relations between the Shoura councils in the two sisterly countries and discussing means of establishing parliamentary friendship committees between the two countries."

In November, 1998, Sheikh Bin Jubeir visited Iran at the head of a 60-member delegation from the Saudi Shoura council.

Nateq Nouri said he is accompanied in this visit by the Iranian trade minister and the chairman of the Iranian chamber of commerce in order to "discuss economic and trade relations and trade exchange between the two countries."

Relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia have witnessed remarkable improvement following the election of Iranian President Muhammad Khatami in May 1997 following a long period of tension between the two countries since the establishment of the Islamic republic in Iran in 1979.