TEHRAN, 3 September 2003 — President Mohammad Khatami welcomed King Abdallah to Tehran yesterday on the first visit to Iran by a Jordanian king in 25 years.
Abdullah was accompanied by a high-ranking ministerial delegation, but neither leader made any statement during a photo-call at the Sadabad Palace in the north-east of the capital. They were expected to discuss the situation in post-war Iraq, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and bilateral issues, officials said.
The two-day visit is seen in Amman and Tehran as an “important” step in improving relations between the two countries, which were restored in 1991 after a 10-year break, during which Iran criticized Abdallah’s father, the late King Hussein, for supporting Baghdad in the 1980-1988 Iraq-Iraq war. Relations between the two countries were more cordial after Abdallah acceded to the throne on the death of his father in February 1999 but were soured when Amman recalled its ambassador after a diplomatic incident.
“That matter is now behind us,” said one Jordanian diplomatic source. Jordanian Information Minister Nabil Sharif earlier said the visit, which has been planned for a long time, “is important because it comes at a crucial time for the region”.
Jordan meanwhile welcomed the formation of an interim Cabinet in Iraq, describing it as a “positive step” toward the election of a representative government, a newspaper said yesterday. “This is a positive step and we hope it will lead to real elections empowering the Iraqi people to elect a representative government,” the Al-Dustour daily quoted Sharif as saying. Iraq’s governing council announced on Monday the names of 24 men and one woman who will act as ministers in an interim government until elections are held next year.
