During his three-day visit to Iran, Mesic is scheduled to meet the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, President Mohammad Khatami, First Vice President Hassan Habibi, and Majlis Speaker Mahdi Karrubi.

Mesic is a respected political figure in the Balkan countries. Relations between Iran and Croatia have improved dramatically during his term.

Iran was among the first countries that officially recognized Croatian independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in September 1993.

The Croatian people believe that their ethnic origins are Iranian, and this very factor has led to close relations between the two nations. This has provided an opportunity for the authorities of both countries to develop and stabilize bilateral relations in different fields.

Iran and Croatia effectively cooperated in ending the war in Bosnia. In fact, the trilateral cooperation of Iran, Croatia and Bosnia, could pave the way for boosting trilateral relations. Although Iran and Croatia are isolated from each other geographically, they enjoy similar political positions in various areas. Croatia has excellent port and industrial facilities and is a link between Western and Central Europe. Therefore, Iran could use their port facilities to transport goods that the Iranian shipping industry currently transports to Europe through Asia and Africa.

Iran could also cooperate in transporting Croatian exports to Central Asia and the Caucasus.

When the Dayton Treaty was signed in 1995, relations between Iran and Croatia were suspended because Croatia was under the influence of Western countries, particularly the United States. Relations between the two countries resumed after the visit of the Croatian deputy foreign minister to Iran in 1997, which led to the visit of the Croatian Parliament speaker and cultural minister to Iran in October 1998, during which a memorandum of understanding on cultural cooperation was signed.

There has been little trade between Iran and Croatia in recent years. Only about five million dollars of goods were exchanged between the two countries last year.

For this reason, during the past two years, both countries have tried to promote their economic, cultural and parliamentary relations along with their political ties through signing several memorandums of understanding.

The Croatian president's visit to Iran indicates that Tehran and Zagreb are determined to develop and stabilize their bilateral relations.