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<id>37</id>
<title>Foreign Trips</title>
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<date>2007-02-28 09:02:09</date>
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<title>Ahmadinejad terms Iran Sudan ties</title>
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<description>President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Wednesday morning that Iran-Sudan political relations are at a &amp;quot;very good level.&amp;quot; </description>
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President Ahmadinejad was talking to reporters at Mehrabad International Airport here before departing for Khartoum, Sudan, for an official two-day visit. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;The two countries have always had amicable and brotherly ties ever since after the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;This visit will play an important role in promoting mutual relations,&amp;quot; he said. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
He noted that Iran and Sudan currently have wide-ranging relations in the economic, industrial, agricultural, energy and cultural fields. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Ahmadinejad said he was visiting Khartoum upon an invitation of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir extended late April, 2006, saying the focus of the visit will be the signing of an agreement by the two sides to further boost ties. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
He said that Sudan was among the big Muslim states in Africa and that mutual ties would receive a further boost through exchange of visits between the two countries' officials. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, Minister of Industries and Mines Ali-Reza Tahmasbi, Minister of Agricultural Jihad Mohammad-Reza Eskandari and Majlis's Article 90 Commission Chairman Mohammad-Reza Faker are accompanying the president. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Ahmadinejad was seen off at Tehran Mehrabad International Airport by First Vice-President Parviz Davoudi, the head of the Supreme Leader's Office Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, the Sudanese Charge d'Affaires in Tehran and a number of ministers. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
In Khartoum the president is scheduled to hold talks with his Sudanese counterpart and other senior officials on issues of mutual interest and regional and international developments. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Tehran, Feb 28, IRNA</body>
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