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Iran: Security official discusses ties, Cyprus "crisis" with Greek envoy
TEHRAN
The Greek ambassador to Tehran Kharalambos Kouyevetopoulos here Wednesday [27 June] congratulated the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Hasan Rowhani on President Khatami's landslide re-election, and expressed hope President Khatami could visit Greece soon.
Kouyevetopoulos said the presidential election in Iran depicted a healthy event which is rarely seen in other countries around the world.
He said ancient civilizations of Iran and Greece has given a significant position to the two countries in safeguarding peace and security in the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf regions.
He expressed Greece's satisfaction with Iran's efforts to solve the Cyprus crisis in international meetings, particularly in the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
The Greek envoy called the trilateral agreements between Iran, Greece and Armenia as 'constructive', particularly with regards to developments in the Caucasus region, and highlighted Iran's role in guaranteeing peace and security in that region.
Rowhani, for his part, said President Khatami's popularity emanated from his policy of detente and expanding ties with neighbours, as well as his efforts to control Iran's internal developments, and reaffirmed that the massive public turnout on June 8 demonstrated people's support for Khatami's policies.
Rowhani shed light on the significance of securing and peace in the Caucasus region, and said Iran-Armenia-Greece trilateral ties would contribute much to establishing stability in that region.
He said the historical ties between Iran and Greece would be a platform to further boost the diplomatic cooperation between the two countries, and reiterated that by relying on those ties Tehran and Athens can play an important role in regional developments.
Iran's SNSC secretary said the exchange of ranking political delegations between Iran and Greece, especially the visit of the Greek President to Tehran, heralded the development of Tehran-Athens cooperation in fields of mutual interest.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Rowhani expressed Iran's concern about the Balkan crisis, and voiced Iran's support for whatever initiative that would lead to a negotiated solution for that crisis. underscored EU's position in Iran's foreign policy, adding that the visits of European heads of states to Iran had paved the way to diversify Iran-EU cooperation, particularly in connection with refugees.
The SNSC secretary also stressed that to secure a lasting stability in the Middle East region, Palestinian territories had to be liberated.
"Considering the proximity of Iran and Greece to the Middle East, we believe
that Tehran and Athens can hold fruitful talks to present possible solutions
to the Palestine crisis," said Rowhani.
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