TEHRAN,
July 21 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The head of a visiting
European parliamentary delegation said Sunday, July 21, the European
Union "did not agree" with the U.S. stance on Iran and that
stronger E.U.-Iranian ties could help resolve the Arab-Israeli
conflict.
"We
do not agree with the Americans on Iran, we do not accept their views
on this country," Elmar Brok, head of the European parliament's
foreign affairs committee, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"On
the contrary, we want to strengthen and expand relations with
Iran," the German European Member of Parliament said.
In
a January speech, U.S. President George W. Bush denounced Iran as part
of an "axis of evil" along with Iraq and North Korea, while
a State Department report has since branded Iran as the biggest state
sponsor of terrorism.
Brok,
visiting Iran following a decision in mid-June by E.U. foreign
ministers to open talks for a trade and cooperation pact with Tehran,
said expanded bilateral ties could "help solve the conflict in
the Middle East."
He
added that he had urged Iranian officials to "moderate"
contacts with Lebanese and Palestinian groups like Hezbollah and
Hamas.
The
European MPs arrived in Tehran for a five-day visit on July 16, at the
invitation of the reformist-dominated parliament, and have held talks
with President Mohammad Khatami.
President
Khatami told members of the European parliament he opposes "war
and terrorism," and called for a new chapter in the dialogue
between Islam and the West, the state IRNA news agency reported
Friday.
"Under
the current sensitive circumstances, a dialogue between civilizations,
notably between Islam and the West, far from political and economic
sensitivities, is an incredibly important deed which can effect the
future of the world," Khatami was quoted as saying Thursday.
The
moderate head of state said he opposed both "war and
terrorism."
Khatami
assured the visiting parliamentarians that the Islamic state's
"experience towards democracy... will continue and the Iranian
government and nation will try to cover the distance [needed to attain
democracy] in less time and with less cost."
Since
the start of the U.S.-led campaign against terror following the
September 11 attacks on New York and Washington D.C., Iran has urged
the international community not to allow it to lead to a "gap
between the Islamic world and the West."
Tehran
also demands that the “war on terror” be led by the United Nations
rather than the United States, with which it has had no ties following
the 1979 Islamic revolution here
