TEHRAN, Sept. 3 (MNA) -– Croatia’s President Stjepan Mesic said on Wednesday his country’s decision to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will not jeopardize its relations with the Islamic Republic.

“In my opinion, Croatia’s membership in NATO or the European Union will not have any negative effect on Tehran-Zagreb relations,” Mesic said in a meeting with a group of Iranian journalists.
On the contrary, Iran will have the opportunity to develop closer relations with the EU through Croatia, he opined.
“Our decision to join NATO is due to some problems we have with some of our neighbors. For example a Serb party imagines that half of Croatia and Bosnia are part of Serbia’s territory. This shows that some groups have not yet given up their desire to extend territory.”
Mesic also said he plans to visit Iran in the near future.