Publish Date: 17 December 2007 - 18:00

TEHRAN, Dec. 17 (MNA) -- Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Saudi Arabia for hajj pilgrimage helps to expand the Tehran-Riyadh relations, a Saudi newspaper reported on Monday.

“Iran’s relation with Saudi (Arabia) is good,” Iran’s senior presidential advisor Mojtaba Samareh-Hashemi told the Alwatan newspaper.

 

However, Samareh-Hashemi insisted, “The relations will witness progress with Ahmadinejad’s visit to Saudi.”

 

The presidential advisor said Ahmadinejad was officially invited by Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to perform the hajj ritual.

 

Samareh-Hashemi also stated that president’s participation in the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council summit was meant to reinforce Iran’s relations with its regional littoral neighbors, the newspaper said on its website.

 

The 28th summit of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council was held in Doha on December 3.

 

PGCC has six members (Saudi Arabia, Oman, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain).

 

The PGCC leaders invited President Ahmadinejad to the summit in which he submitted 12 proposals meant to “reinforce brotherly ties” and “promote cooperation” among the regional states.

 

According to the Saudi publication, Samareh-Hashemi announced that Tehran plans to propose establishing an economic organization with PGCC members in the form of 6+1.

 

 

NG/PA

END

MNA