Saleh confirms Iran’s right to possess nuclear energy [Archives:2006/972/Front Page]
SANA'A, Aug. 13 ) While receiving Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mano Shaher Muttaqi, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh stated yesterday that Iran and any other Islamic country has the right to possess nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
During their meeting, Muttaqi conveyed a message from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to President Saleh regarding relations between the two countries and ways of strengthening them. In his message, Ahmadinejad also referred to regional developments, especially the Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Palestine.
The Iranian president also praised President Saleh's stance in upholding Islamic nations' issues and affirmed Iran's concern for strengthening relations and interests serving the two countries.
In their meeting, Saleh and Muttaqi discussed developments at the regional and international level, referring to Iran's nuclear file and the Iraqi situation. Saleh also asked Muttaqi to convey a message back to his counterpart, President Ahmadinejad.
Yemeni Minister of Foreign Affairs Abu Bakr Al-Qirbi met with his counterpart, holding talks at the ministry office in Sana'a, wherein Muttaqi appreciated Yemen's stances in dealing with regional and international events.
Al-Qirbi noted that Muttaqi's visit is an extension of previous visits and will assist in holding talks about the current regional situation amid the continuing Israeli war on Lebanon. Such a visit by the Iranian minister reflects the peculiarity of relations between the two countries, Al-Qirbi added.
Al-Qirbi clarified that regional peace and stability are of great importance to Yemen and Iran, confirming that Israeli aggression has caused the death of thousands of children and elderly people, in addition to destroying Lebanon's infrastructure, amid international failure to stop such attacks. He hoped that the U.N. resolution on the Israeli-Lebanese war will be a real beginning to treating the Israeli-Arab conflict.
The two sides also discussed topics related to situations in Palestine and Lebanon, as well as challenges standing before a joint Islamic action. The Iranian minister left Yemen yesterday, Aug. 13.
On a similar front, Saba News Agency reported that on the same day, President Saleh received Mohammed Saeed, Secretary-General of Eritrea's Popular Front for Democracy and Justice, who conveyed a message from Eritrean President Isaias Afeworki regarding relations between the two countries and the situation in the African Horn, especially in Somalia. In his message, Afeworki appreciated the results of Saleh's last visit to Eritrea.
The two sides discussed fields of development and cooperation between Yemen and Eritrea, as well as ways to enhance relations between the General People's Congress and the Popular Front for Democracy and Justice.
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