Iran, Senegal should try to improve ties: Iranian president

TEHRAN, March 11 (MNA) -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that Iran and Senegal should make efforts to expand bilateral ties.

In a meeting with visiting Senegalese Parliament Speaker Mamadou Seck, Ahmadinejad said the two nations should complement each other in their cooperation.

If the two counties stand by each other, certainly a bright future will await them, he observed.

He went on to say that Iran and Senegal should strive to defend the oppressed nations and cooperate to create a new just system in the world.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he said that Tehran and Dakar ought to do their utmost to resolve disputes in other countries particularly in Muslim nations.

Seck called Iran-Senegal ties deep and brotherly, adding that Iran’s progress belongs to all Muslim nations.

He pointed out that the Senegalese president, parliament and people support Iran.

Senegal-Iran ties are strategic

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, in a separate meeting with Seck on Tuesday, described ties as strategic.

Tehran and Dakar have established good relationship in political, economic and cultural areas, Mottaki said.

The minister added Tehran supports Iranian companies doing business in Senegal, saying such a support would speed up the implementation of the joint projects between the two countries.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he said the Islamic countries should fight Islamophobia being promoted by the West.

He also said the extremist policies pursued by the former Bush administration have created a miserable situation for the people in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Seck said all the Senegalese parliamentary factions support strategic cooperation with Iran.

He said Islamophobia is being promoted by the Western countries as they feel their supremacy is being threatened.