Amman, Jan 8, IRNA -- Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Gholam Ali Khoshrou said in Amman on Friday the final statement issued at the end of a four-hour meeting of Iraq's neighboring states incorporates Iran's demands and views.

Talking to IRNA, Khoshrou said the discusssions that took place during the meeting with the Iranian delegation were positive and that the delegation was able to convey the important principles Iran had always emphasized.

"The necessity of holding direct elections in Iraq at the time scheduled with the participation of all groups in the country were among the demands of the Iranian delegation," he added.

In connection with the upcoming elections, "Iran has called for a condemnation of terrorist activities against the defenseless Iraqi nation and an end to the aggression on the holy sites in the country respected by Muslims and these have been included in the final final statement of the meeting."

He stressed the importance of the election as one that would put in place a new government chosen through a democratic process that would have the credibility and acceptance necessary to establishing peaceful ties with its neighbors.

Khoshrou further stated that participants of the Amman meet stressed the importance of the new Iraqi government honoring its commitments to international and multilateral agreements.

Iran also asked for the trial of former Ba'ath Party members who were responsible for launching attacks against the Iranian and Kuwaiti nations and the murder of thousands of innocent Iraqis, he noted.

The Iranian deputy foreign minister said that on the sidelines of the meeting he conferred with foreign ministers of Iraq's neighboring states on bilateral relations.

Foreign ministers of Iraq's neighboring states wrapped up their four-hour meeting on Iraq's upcoming election in the Jordanian capital Amman Thursday night with the issuance of a final statement.

In the statement, the participants declared their support for the holding of elections in Iraq as scheduled by the interim government on January 30 as a prelude to an independent and sovereign Iraq.

Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey and Syria are the neighboring states of Iraq which sent foreign ministerial delegations to the meeting.

... Payvand News - 1/8/05 ... --