Iran, Sudan to enhance bilateral cooperation
June 19, 2006 (TEHRAN) — Iran and Sudan here Sunday explored possible avenues for enhancing bilateral cooperation in all fields at a meeting held between visiting Sudanese Minister of International Cooperation al-Tigani Saleh Fedail and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
Pointing to sustainable ties between the two countries, Mottaki said, “The two sides have strong common interests and bonds with increasing prospects for enhancement of mutual relations, the Iranian news agency IRNA reported.
“Iran sees no obstacle in the way of promoting cooperation with Sudan,” he said.
He described the visit of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to Tehran in late April as having “opened a new chapter in mutual relations,” adding that new potentials should be exploited for strengthening Tehran-Khartoum ties.
“There are good opportunities for implementation of different projects in Sudan.”
The Iranian minister recalled that “western states had promised a 4.5 billion dollar aid to Sudan in accordance with the peace plan negotiated with Khartoum to end the conflict in its south but had only fulfilled four percent.”
On recent developments in Palestine, he said that Palestinian children and women have again been massacred by Israeli aircraft but international circles unfortunately continue to give a blind eye to these crimes.
“Their indifference encourages the Zionist regime to continue its anti-human measures because its crimes go unpunished,” he said.
Referring to Iran’s peaceful nuclear program, Mottaki said the statement issued by foreign ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) at the end of their conference in Kuala Lumpur earlier this month in support of the rights of member states to access modern technologies was a notice to the world of NAM’s “active and successful diplomacy with regard to ongoing challenges.”
He said Tehran was happy with Sudan’s success in negotiating a peace plan to settle the crisis in its south and believed that all remaining regional conflicts can be settled through similar talks with all Sudanese groups.
Fidail, for his part, assessed ties between the two countries as “positive,” and said the Sudanese president’s recent visit to Tehran produced good results.
Tehran-Khartoum ties emphasize strategic cooperation, he said, adding that their common interests lead them to seek strong bilateral cooperation to their mutual benefit.
He highlighted Sudan’s great economic potentials and expressed his country’s readiness to share its capabilies with Iran.
He criticized western states for failing to fulfill several financial commitments that led to the negotiated peace agreement with the Sudanese government.
The Sudanese minister acknowledged Iran’s right to have access to peaceful nuclear technology and said Khartoum had always backed this peaceful nuclear right of states and believes scientific progress achieved by Iran will redound to the benefit of the Islamic world.
In the meeting, the Sudanese minister gave a synopsis of latest developments leading to the negotiated peace plan for Sudan’s Darfur region.
(ST)