Date: 01 Mar 2000
Time: 07:36:44
Remote Name: 156.29.145.175
02/29/2000 Associated Press Newswires Copyright 2000. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) - Iranian Trade Minister Mohammad Shariatmadari held talks Tuesday with Bahraini leaders to boost trade ties between the Gulf neighbors, which resumed normal ties in recent years.
Shariatmadari, who arrived here late Monday, held talks with Emir Sheik Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and other high-ranking officials, including the prime minister and foreign minister, the official Gulf News Agency said.
Talks focused on enhancing bilateral cooperation mainly in the trade sector, the agency said.
Later Tuesday, Shariatmadari headed a meeting of the Bahraini- Iranian Joint Trade and Economic Committee, which is expected to sign several agreements aimed at promoting business ties between the countries, the agency said. The agreements will be the first of their kind between the business communities of the two countries.
On Wednesday, Shariatmadari will attend the opening of an Iranian products exhibition, in which a total of 65 companies and businesses from Iran 's private and public sector are taking part.
Bilateral trade between Iran and Bahrain amounts to nearly dlrs 40 million annually.
Ties between the two countries were strained in July 1996 when Bahrain accused Iran of orchestrating a coup plot by Shiite Muslims to topple the island's ruling Al Khalifa family, a member of the mainstream Sunni sect of Islam.
Bahrain recalled its ambassador in protest, and Iran did the same while denying a hand in the alleged plot.
Ties began improving slightly after President Mohammad Khatami, a moderate, took office in Iran in August 1997. The two countries formally sealed the normalization of ties in December 1998 when Bahrain accepted credentials for new Iranian ambassador.
Last May, Bahrain's emir also called for stronger ties with Tehran.