Bahrain King begins Iran visit tomorrow

His Majesty the King of Bahrain, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, will start an official two-day groundbreaking visit to Iran tomorrow, announced the Bahraini Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa.

The minister said bilateral trade ties and regional politics be high on the agenda of discussions during the meetings which will take between the leaders.

During the visit, the King will meet Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Mohammed Khatami. "Talks will focus on ways to develop bilateral relations and the latest regional developments," Sheikh Mohammed was quoted yesterday by state media as saying.

"Bahrain attaches great importance to the visit, the first of its kind in more than two decades, and we look forward to new foundations for mutual trust in the relations between the two countries."

Sheikh Hamad's visit comes 23 years after a landmark visit made by his father, the late Emir, Sheikh Isa bin Salman, in 1979. However, the former Iranian president Hashemi Rafsanjani, now the head of the powerful Expediency Council visited Bahrain, in 1999. He was the highest-ranking Iranian official to visit the island ever.

The relations between Bahrain, the base of the U.S. Naval Central Command of the Fifth Fleet, and the Islamic republic, labelled by the U.S. administration as a member of the 'axis of evil', have always been tense due to Bahrain's decades-long suspicions that Iran is interfering in its domestic affairs.

The two countries normalised relations only after 1997, with the rise to power of the Iranian President Khatami, and exchanged ambassadors in January, 1999.

"There is a strong need to put an end to the negative events that marked the last two decades and which led to tension and instability. Iran is an important country in the region, and Bahrain is genuinely keen on having normal and fruitful ties with its neighbour, based upon mutual interest and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries," Sheikh Mohammed said.

The King, he said, will discuss with his hosts, ways to promote commercial and financial ties, including agreements on economic, trade and technical cooperation, confirmation and protection of investments, avoiding double taxation on income, maritime commercial transport, cultural, scientific and technical cooperation.

Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on tourism cooperation will also be on the agenda.

According to the figures released yesterday by the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the total trade volume for the year 2000 was a little over $2 million, only 0.02 per cent of the total trade between Iran and the GCC countries.

Meanwhile, the foreign minister stressed that the visit's agenda did not include security agreements but did not rule out such an agreement in the future. "Security issues are among our priorities but they will not be addressed during this visit."

Another point of concern, he noted, was the Iraqi issue.

"The King is keen on coordinating positions (with Iran) on regional issues (and), the Iraqi issue is important to all countries in the region where stability and security must be achieved."

Both countries have recently voiced their strong opposition to the widely-expected American attack on Iraq.

Bahraini Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa last week said such an action would be 'disastrous' for the whole region.