Moroccan king receives speaker of Iranian parliament

King Mohammed VI received in Ifrane Friday the speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri, who was accompanied by the deputy foreign minister in charge of Arab and African affairs, Mohamed Essadr.

The meeting was attended by the speaker of the Moroccan House of Representatives, Abdelouahed Radi.

The Iranian official, who started on Thursday a three-day visit to Morocco, held a series of talks in Rabat with Moroccan officials, including Prime Minister Abderrahmane Youssoufi and speakers of the parliament's two chambers.

Economic cooperation was reviewed Friday at a meeting between the chairman of Iran's trade, industry and mining chamber, Ali Naki Khamouchi, who is part of Nouri's delegation, and Morocco's minister of trade, industry and handicraft, Alami Tazi. The two men agreed that trade, which does not exceed presently $120 million, should be enhanced.

Relations between the two countries's legislative bodies and economic cooperation were surveyed in the Moroccan-Iranian talks.

The two countries are scheduled to convene their joint commission early next year.

Cooperation between the two countries is ruled by several agreements, the most recent of which is the 1996 program for cooperation in sea fisheries research and vocational training.

The two countries are also bound by a cooperation agreement in exports promotion, signed in 1995. The same year, the Moroccan and Iranian chambers of commerce and industry agreed to exchange information and expertise related to foreign trade.