(IRNA) - IRI Ambassador to Italy Abolfazl Zohrehvand here on Wednesday met and conferred with this country's Interior Minister Juliano D'Amato, reports Trend.
During the meeting the Italian FM said, "Iran's status in the Middle East is a historic one, and your country is the inheritor of a long history and a shining civilization."
He added, "The Iranian nation and government are today one of the main players in the region and particularly at the scene of the Persian Gulf."
D'Amato added, "Everyone is aware of the Iranians' serious struggle against narcotic drugs trafficking and the European countries, including Italy, must revise their policies in that respect, adopting strategies inclusive of various types of assistance, like special training for the Iranian anti-narcotic disciplinary forces."
The Italian Interior Minister emphasized, "Europe is at the center of heroin trafficking from the East to the West and therefore we dearly appreciate the selfless efforts made by the Islamic Republic of Iran in its ant-narcotic campaign."
He added, "I believe the EU should further fortify its cooperation with Iran in that sensitive respect."
The Italian top official referring to the two countries' good level of cooperation based on an agreement signed in the year 2002, asked for continuation of those types of cooperation.
D'Amado added, "Rome resolutely believes achieving peace, security, and stability in the Middle East, from Lebanon to Iraq, and form there to Afghanistan, is impossible in the absence of Iran's active participation and full cooperation."
The Italian Interior Minister concluded his remarks stressing, "The Italian government hopes for a near future end to the crisis over Iran's nuclear program and hopes that the problem would be solved through holding further talks and closer cooperation as soon as possible.
During the meeting the IRI Ambassador Zohrehvand, too, focussed on the latest status of the regional countries in brief, arguing, Iran is situated at the center of huge regional crises, namely the ones in Afghanistan and in Iraq."
He added, "We have succeeded in maintaining peace and stability in our own country despite the exodus of floods of refugees from those countries, whose numbers in some occasions reached hundreds of thousands."
The Iranian diplomat said, "The presence of tens of thousands of foreign military forces in the region, too, has not affected the prevailing peace and stability in Iran, thanks to the wise policies pursued by Tehran."
Zohrehvand added, "The IRI is seriously entangled in an all-out war against narcotic drugs trafficking on its eastern international borders, and this struggle costs us around one billion US dollars annually, while we have also contributed 3,500 martyrs to that cause.
He added, "Iran's struggle against the trafficking of narcotic drugs through its soil to Europe has led to the traffickers' new policies, such as selling their deadly goods in Iran, which is a part of the price that the Iranians are paying in that struggle." The IRI Ambassador said, "But despite the recent UN approval of our anti-narcotic drug campaign, the Europeans have so far refrained from sending even smallest contributions to Iran for the purpose." Zohrehvand at the end referring to our country's peaceful nuclear program, reiterated, "Our nuclear technology is merely aimed at reducing energy, but without completing the full nuclear cycle and uranium enrichment in our country we would not be able to achieve that goal."
He said, "Our trust building policy in that respect includes inviting all interested world counties, including Italy, to participate in Iran's nuclear industries."