TEHRAN (FNA) – Iranian Judiciary Chief Mahmud Hashemi Shahrudi has said Third World countries and Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) member states must enhance their status in international equations.

Shahrudi made the remarks in a meeting with South Africa's ambassador to Iran, Yusef Salouji, here on Tuesday, where the Iranian official also called for the expansion of the two countries' relations in the legal, economic and cultural spheres.

"Expansion of relations between the two significant countries of Iran and South Africa, particularly in economic and legal grounds, serves interests of both nations," Shahrudi stressed.

Elsewhere, he regretted that certain international bodies, including the United Nations Organization, have lost their main status and standing and turned into a means for the materialization of the goals and implementation of the policies of the big powers under the present circumstances.

"To get rid of this problem, the third world countries and the Non-Aligned Movement member states should embark on forming new unions and formations in a bid to obtain a proper standing and position in the form of international organizations," the head of Iran's judiciary said.

He noted that those countries that claim to be advocates of democracy, human rights, and individual liberty regard some specific rights and advantages to be reserved for themselves when it comes to international issues.

"And this is in contradiction to the spirit of freedom and democracy," Shahrudi pointed out.

"A majority of those countries alleging to be proponents of human rights and democracy on different international scenes easily trample the rights of nations despite all their allegations and this is an implausible issue for independent states and nations," he mentioned.

For his part, the South African envoy voiced his country's readiness to expand ties with Iran and launch judicial cooperation with Iran's judiciary system.