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$600 Million Credit Line Fighting terrorism, combating drug trade and boosting business are the main priorities in the new era of Tehran-Madrid relations

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar paid a two-day official visit to Iran in October, the first by a Spanish premier since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, for talks on boosting ties and the Middle East crisis. During his visit, Aznar met with the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mohammad Khatami. The visit provided an opportunity for “an open dialogue” in which Spain expressed the European position and the consultations were said to be “very useful”.

Drafting a Cooperation: Aznar arrived from Seoul where he took part in a Europe-Asia summit, making a stopover en route in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The Spanish premier said upon arrival that he wanted to strengthen economic and commercial relations between the two nations and that Spain supported the government’s moves toward economic reform and privatization.
Spain is one of Iran’s principal commercial partners, although trade dropped from $1.07 billion in 1997 to only $768 million in 1999, 70% of which was Spanish purchase of Iranian oil.
Three memoranda were sealed behind closed doors between Iran’s President Mohammad Khatami and visiting Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar. They called for political dialogue between the foreign ministers of both states and expansion of parliamentary relations.

Anti-Narcotics Combat: Iran is a major transit point in the international drug trade. Although the country has contributed a lot to the international struggle against drug trafficking and consequently sustained heavy damages, but has not been totally successful in that area. Nor has it been duly supported by many countries who would benefit from Iran’s anti-narcotics combat. Dealing with this issue during the Spanish premier’s visit, Iran and Spain signed agreements to fight terrorism and drug-trafficking.

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$600 Million Deal: Spain has committed itself to helping Iran expand its relations with the European Union. Iran and Spain have also agreed to support mutual investments. Aznar told a press conference that Spain would provide Iran with a credit line of $600 million as the two nations move to boost commercial ties. He made the announcement at a joint press conference with President Khatami, saying economic and commercial relations with Iran were of “great importance”. Spain also aimed to “sign an agreement which would secure these relations” Aznar said, adding that Khatami had been invited to Madrid.
The reformist president for his part said Aznar’s visit “will only strengthen the ties even further in all fields,” adding that the two nations were determined to fight terrorism and drug trafficking.

Oil Supplies: Speaking on the occasion of Prime Minister Aznar’s visit, President Khatami said that Iran believes that the interests of both oil producers and consumers should be respected adding that oil export is in fact export of capital from the producing states and oil plays a vital role in the world economy. “The OPEC leaders made decisions in Caracas Summit to help stabilize the market, serving the interests of both producers and consumers.”

A Report to the EU: In response to a question about Iran-Spain and Iran-EU relations, Aznar said, “My visit to Iran and President Khatami’s visits to European states indicate that there have been progress and I hope relations will even improve further.”
The Spanish prime minister said a golden opportunity now at hand should be utilized to cement ties. He said he would provide a report to the European Union (EU) states about his talks with President Khatami in Tehran in order to explore areas of cooperation between Iran and the EU members.
President Khatami said Iran and Spain shared common views on many issues and called for development of bilateral relations in political, economic and cultural areas. He stated that Tehran and Madrid are interested in fair peace and stability in the world and believe that relations between countries should be based on mutual respect, adding that the two countries also seek peace in the Middle East based on justice.

Fruitful Dialogue: President Khatami said Iran and Spain regard dialogue of civilizations as a basis for relations between nations. He said dispute among states are normal and the two countries believe that dialogue is the main basis for settlement of the disputes. For his part, Aznar expressed pleasure with his visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran and said he held “fruitful” negotiations with President Khatami on objectives pursued by Tehran and Madrid. He appreciated the initiative of Dialogue Among Civilizations put forward by President Khatami and said talks with the Iranian president on political, economic, cultural and scientific areas would serve to boost bilateral relations. Jose Maria Aznar wound up his official visit with a short trip to the historical city of Isfahan, one of Iran’s tourist showpieces.