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Tehran, March 11, IRNA -- President Mohammad Khatami here on Tuesday stressed the need for international peace and co-existence.
"We should try to restore peace, tranquility and peaceful co-existence in the international arena," Khatami told the visiting Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.
Pointing to Russia's position, record and role in international affairs and the UN Security Council, Khatami expressed appreciation over stance of that country and of number of European countries on solving the crisis in Iraq peacefully.
"Current problems should be settled through logic and wisdom, since human beings today are tired of war, terror and violence," he added.
He lauded the decisive role that Iran and Russia play in establishing regional stability and security and reiterated that opposition to war does not mean support for the present regime in Iraq.
"Iran's principled stance is opposition to unilateralism, militarism as well as ignoring the role of organizations including the United Nations which have been founded to restore peace and security,"
Khatami said.
"Democracy is favorable and is needed by all countries, but it is not a compulsion. No one is allowed to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries on this pretext and by resorting to force," he added, criticizing the wrong policies of US politicians.
He noted that continuation of such policies would reinforce extremism and promote an atmosphere of terror and violation, adding, "Unfortunately, such policies would undermine logic-oriented and democratic movements in the Islamic World."
The Iranian president, however, stressed that any war on Iraq would not be beneficial for regional countries and even the United States in the long run, saying the oppressed Iraqi people will be the first victims of this tragedy.
He expressed hope the war would be averted through efforts of all countries and all nations will co-exist peacefully.
Khatami also hoped the legal regime of the Caspian Sea would be determined on a fair basis and understanding among littoral countries.
Pointing to new round of mutual ties between Tehran and Moscow following his visit to Russia in March, 2002, Khatami emphasized that Iran's foreign policy attaches special importance on expansion of bilateral cooperation in all fields.
He stressed Iran's peaceful use of nuclear power and voiced satisfaction over cooperation in the construction of Bushehr nuclear plant.
Khatami referred to great potentials of Iranian experts to attain the technology for generating electricity from nuclear energy and make its activities to this effect transparent and said, "Tehran never tries to gain access to atomic weapons. It seeks a region without weapons of mass destruction and the destruction of such weapons."
He further stated that Iran supports dialogue among civilizations and coalition for peace, adding Iran's nuclear plans are based on the regulations of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and are quite transparent.
Khatami pointed to great potentials and facilities of the two countries and called for further coordination in the fields of oil, gas and petrochemistry as well as bolstering of cooperation in all areas based on the two nations' common interests.
Ivanov, for his part, conveyed warm greetings of Russian President Vladimir Putin to his Iranian counterpart President Khatami and expressed hope mutual ties between the two neighboring states would receive further boost in all areas.
Pointing to similar stance adopted by Iran and Russia in consolidation of bilateral ties and key regional issues, he voiced satisfaction over growing trend of trade, commercial and scientific relations as well as bilateral cooperation in peaceful use of nuclear energy.
He said the Iraqi issue is of concern to all world countries and described the US statesmen's stance on the region as a factor for escalating tension.
Ivanov lashed out at policies which leads the world to unilateral system and voiced Moscow's opposition to war.
He urged world countries to form an anti-war front in this sensitive situation in order to establish a world based on peace and justice.
"Moscow does not support Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and is not determined to make this issue a new conflict in international system.
"It believes that the US must listen to the views of absolute majority of world countries. The Iraqi crisis should be settled through multilateral cooperation under the leadership of the United Nations," the Russian minister said.
He called for coordination and cooperation of all countries to establish better political ties in the future.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov arrived in Tehran on Tuesday on a three-day official visit to discuss possible ways for bolstering of mutual relations as well as regional issues, particularly the Iraqi crisis with Iranian senior officials.
The Russian media over the past few days commented on the Russian foreign minister's visit to Iran and termed it as 'important' given the currently sensitive situation in the region.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov told Interfax news agency on Monday that the visit has become more and more 'crucial' with regard to the sensitive circumstances and new developments in the region.
The Russian foreign minister is due to fly from Tehran to Kabul, the Afghan capital on March 12, and from there to Tajikistan.
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