Iran assures B'desh of cooperation in oil and petrochemical sectors

Dhaka, Mar 11 (UNI) Iran today assured Bangladesh of considering cooperation in oil and petrochemical, particularly in Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) sector.

''As a logical decision and as a base, the issues of oil and petrochemical are considered in Iran and naturally LPG is one of the elements being considered,'' Iranian Ambassador Hassan Farahzandeh told reporters after meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Advisor Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury.

The new Iranian Ambassador mentioned the Ministerial meeting between the two countries in Tehran last year when the two sides signed an MoU for expanding cooperation in different areas for mutual benefit.

''There are lot of issues in the MoU to be followed,'' he said, adding they discussed ways of expanding economic and cultural activities between the two ''brotherly'' countries.

Referring to many commonalties in language and culture between them, the Ambassador said more than 8,000 Persian words were used in Bengali vocabulary.

Asked about the UN sanction on Iran for its nuclear enrichment programme, Mr Farahzandeh said, ''Sanction is not a new word or action against Iran.'' He said during 25 years of life of Islamic Republic of Iran, ''we are still experiencing this sanction everyday and still the sanction exists.'' The Ambassador said people may suffer from the sanction but ''I am afraid others may suffer more economically.'' He conveyed Iranian Foreign Minister Manucheher Muttaki's invitation to the Advisor to visit Iran.

Mr Chowdhury said they had discussed bilateral issues of mutual interest and agreed to identify the areas very soon where the two countries would cooperate.

Asked about Foreign Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries, he said it was too early to make any remarks about it, but added that they would consider cooperation across the broader possible spectrum.

In the international arena, he said Iran and Bangladesh had been ''partners and friends''.

On Iran's nuclear programme, the Advisor said, ''We are very closely following it and we are very pleased to note that Iran has been very cooperative.

''We see Iran as an important player in the international arena and even in the situation of Iraq, Iran is playing a role and we hope that will ultimately lead to the stabilisation of Iraq,'' Mr Chowdhury added.

UNI