President Rouhani welcomed President Fischer in an official ceremony earlier in the day. They also held a meeting prior to the press conference.
President Fischer, who is in Iran on an official three-day visit, said during the presser that the recent agreement reached between Iran and the 5+1 in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on July 14 opened a new chapter in the relations between the Islamic Republic and other countries.
He said Iran and Austria enjoy age-old relations and the two countries have never had major problems, underlining that Austria has never had any colonial record in Iran.
Both sides should equally benefit from the relationship, he said.
President Fischer also said he expects Austria’s bilateral trade with Iran to grow to 300 million euros (335 million dollars) this year, and continue to “markedly” increase in the coming years.
"The two governments had agreed to increase political and economic cooperation, and the agreements would benefit both sides equally," Fischer said.
He underlined the need for addressing the crises in the region especially the Syrian asylum seekers and underlined the cooperation with Iranian government in countering against terrorism in the region and the whole world.
The Iranian president, for his part, firstly thanked the Austrian government for its “good hosting” of the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the 5+1 countries, which culminated in the agreement between the two sides.
In response to a question about Iran’s support for the Syrian government, President Rouhani said the priority now is putting an end to the total insecurity in the country and the misery of the people.
“The first step is to stop the bloodshed in Syria,” the Iranian president said, adding that once that priority is fulfilled, it will be time to discuss and establish such political issues as democracy and opposition in the Arab country.
President Rouhani emphasized that the future of Syria should be built by the Syrian people themselves through popular voting.
“No foreign country can and should decide about Syria’s future,” he said, adding that all countries should cooperate for the settlement of the Syrian crisis.
He highlighted that terrorism is a major global problem and in addition to threatening security and stability in the region, it threatens peace and security throughout the world.
He said millions of people in Syria are becoming homeless; terrorists use oil's money for killing the people instead of serving public welfare.
President Rouhani underlined that the crisis of asylum seekers have overshadowed the European image.
"The first step to resolve Syrian issue is to stop bloodshed and establish relative security in Syria so that refugees would return to the country," Rouhani said.
Iran is ready to sit at the negotiating table with any country if the Islamic Republic feels certain that its negotiating partner understands the point that Syrian future is an internal issue and that what matters is peace in the Arab country.
The Austrian president is in Iran at the head of a 240-member delegation, on an invitation by Iranian President Rouhani.
Austria’s Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz as well as Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner accompany Fisher on his trip to Tehran.
Fischer’s visit to Iran is a first by a leader of a member state of the European Union (EU) since former Austrian President Thomas Klestil traveled to Tehran in January 2004.
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