Velayati Calls For Enhanced Ties With New Zealand Research Centers

Tehran, April 7, IRNA – Head of the Research Center of Iranˈs Expediency Council Ali-Akbar Velayati on Sunday called for enhanced cooperation between the research centers of Iran and New Zealand. Velayati made the remarks in a meeting with visiting New Zealand Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Gerard van Bohemen. Referring to the cultural relations and exchange of university professors and students between the two countries, Velayati said that the research centers of Iran and New Zealand would work together to find ways to maintain security of the Indian Ocean and new approaches to the issues of the international community. Expansion of ties with Asian countries is top priority of Iranˈs foreign policy, Velayati said. Velayati, an advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Foreign Policy Affairs, said New Zealand used to be one of Iranˈs economic partners in the past. The New Zealand diplomat, for his part, underlined his countryˈs determination to promote trade ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Gerard van Bohemen said that New Zealand secretary of foreign affairs and trade is going to visit Tehran in the near future. The two officials discussed the humanitarian situation in Syria and stressed the need to find a political solution to the crisis. They both believed that Syrian people should be allowed to decide their own destiny through participation in the upcoming presidential election./end