Powerful Iran to benefit all world: Davoudi

1 November 2008

Tehran-First Vice-President Parviz Davoudi said that a powerful Iran would benefit all regional and world countries.

He made the remark in a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin held on the sidelines of the 7th conference of Shanghai Cooperation Organization prime ministers in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Davoudi added that presence of a powerful Russia in the region would also benefit the Iranian nation, the regional states, and the entire globe.

Referring to close economic relations between the two states, he called for strengthening of Tehran-Moscow strategic cooperation.

On current global economic crisis, the Iranian VP said the current crisis has created serious concern for the world states.

The current situation is an indication of incapability of the capitalism in administering the global economy, he noted.

Referring to the will of the two countries' leaders to further promote all-out ties, Davoudi called for establishment of gas OPEC by the two states.

He also voiced Tehran's readiness to establish a joint bank with Russia.

Criticizing the current global financial crisis, Putin said such a situation is resulted from wrong monetary policies of the western states.

On admission of Iran as the main member of the SCO, he said the move was welcomed by Moscow from the very beginning.

Expressing his satisfaction with the current level of bilateral relations between the two countries, Putin reiterated that mutual cooperation is growing.

The volume of Tehran-Moscow trade stands at dlrs 5.3 billion, he said, adding that the figure is an indication to expansion of bilateral cooperation between the two states.

On cooperation at the Caspian Sea as very important for both sides, the Russian premier noted that there is a bright prospect for both Iran and Russia.

Regular session of SCO Prime Ministers Council was held in Astana on October 29-30.

Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan are the SCO member countries and Iran, India, Mongolia and Pakistan are the observer states.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is an intergovernmental security organization which was founded in 2001 by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Except for Uzbekistan, the other countries had been members of Shanghai Five, founded in 1996, after the inclusion of Uzbekistan in 2001, the members renamed the Organization.