By IRNA
London : Iranian Ambassador Rasoul Movahedian has praised the anti-war stance taken by the Scottish government during a visit to the country’s devolved parliament in Edinburgh.
“We are very much pleased by the views of the present government, is against the war, against chemical weapons, against proliferation, and advocates a world based on peace and friendship, which strives or well being and economic progress,” Movahedian said.
“I think that Iran and Scotland enjoy similar views on many regional and international topics and issues,” he told the Scotsman newspaper Friday.
The ambassador also suggested that there was “fertile ground” for a stronger relationship with the Scottish National government, which was elected for the first time last year.
“The views and the position of this present government of Scotland pleased many people in Iran and enabled us to make a distinction between Scotland and England,” he said.
Movahedian was invited to Edinburgh as a guest of the Scottish Parliament. He was welcomed by its presiding officer Alex Fergusson and met First Minister Alex Salmond and the leaders of other parties.
Last year, Salmond wrote to all 189 countries signed up to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, including Iran, asking them to back a separate seat for Scotland at nuclear disarmament talks.