TEHRAN – Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said on Monday that Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan plan to visit Iran.

Qashqavi said Iran and Iraq have yet to specify the time and other details of Talabani’s trip to Tehran. Qashqavi said he has also invited a number of Iraqi journalists to Iran to further bolster media relations between the two countries.
The spokesman said the Turkish top diplomat will visit Tehran for talks over piping Iran’s gas to the EU via Turkey. Qashqavi stressed that the two sides are determined to implement the gas transmission project.
Ahmadinejad likely to attend PGCC summit
The spokesman announced that President Mahmud Ahmadinejad is likely to attend the upcoming Persian Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Muscat following an invitation by the emir of Qatar.
Qashqavi told reporters in his weekly press briefing that the emir of Qatar’s latest visit to Tehran was particularly aimed at conveying the Persian Gulf countries’ request to expand cooperation with the Islamic Republic and holding further negotiations with Iran on ways to establish peace and security in the region.
“Ahmadinejad’s fruitful attendance in the latest PGCC summit encouraged the Persian Gulf neighbors to bolster relations with Iran,” he added.
Ahmadinejad attended the 28th PGCC summit in Doha last December and put forward 12 proposals meant to “reinforce brotherly ties” and “promote cooperation” among Persian Gulf littoral states and the Islamic Republic.
Iran-IAEA continue normal cooperation
Elsewhere in his remarks, Qashqavi said the recent meeting between Iranian and IAEA nuclear officials was in line with Tehran’s “normal cooperation” with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
A delegation of UN nuclear watchdog officials headed by IAEA Deputy Director in charge of inspections Olli Heinonen held a three-day negotiation with Iran last week over its nuclear activities.
Iranian officials described the talks as constructive.
Tehran is continuing its normal cooperation with the European Union and the UN nuclear watchdog based on the Safeguards Agreement, Qashqavi stressed.
The spokesman said Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana are continuing efforts to end Iran’s nuclear standoff with the West in a “positive and constructive” environment.
The UN Security Council has so far imposed three rounds of sanctions on the Islamic Republic for refusing to halt its uranium enrichment activities.
Iran insists its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity for its growing population and that as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty it has the right to access peaceful nuclear technology.
Iran to maintain ties with Britain
Qashqavi said the Iranian lawmakers’ demand for reducing relations with Britain is not yet on the Foreign Ministry’s agenda.
Iranian MPs on Saturday called on the Ahmadinejad administration to review its relations with Britain after London removed Mujahedin Khalq Organization from the terrorist blacklist.
In a meeting with Iran’s ambassador to London Rassul Movahedian, the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee strongly condemned Britain’s support for the MKO, the largest armed Iranian dissident group.
The Mujahedin Khalq was set up in the mid-1960s to oppose the U.S.-backed dictatorship of the late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. It participated in the 1979 Islamic Revolution but soon launched a campaign of assassinations and bombings in Iran.
The MKO was supported by Saddam Hussein’s regime in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war but was disarmed after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Iran supports peaceful end to Caucasus crisis
Turning to the military conflict between Russia and Georgia, Qashqavi said, “The clashes started by wrong signals sent by those who want to undermine the Caucasus sensitive situation.”
“We believe that resolving such conflicts requires negotiations and finding peaceful solutions. Our Foreign Ministry will also continue its negotiations with the two sides to provide a diplomatic solution to the conflict.