BELGRADE Yugoslav Minister for National and Ethnic Communities Rasim Ljajic arrived Tehran here Monday where he is to hold discussions with Iranian officials on ways of expanding bilateral cooperation.

His four-day trip to the Iranian capital is on the invitation of Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ahmad Masjed Jamei.

Promotion of Tehran-Belgrade political, economic and cultural cooperation will be top on the agenda of talks to be held between the Yugoslav official and his Iranian hosts.

Ljajic is to submit a written message from President Vojislav Kostunica to the latter's Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Khatami.

Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview with IRNA Sunday, Ljajic said his trip would be within the framework of Belgrade's efforts to boost ties with Muslim nations.

"Iran, as an important country of the region and the Muslim world, has a special position in Yugoslav foreign policy," he said, adding that he finds no obstacle to the two countries' diversification of bilateral relations.

The Yugoslav minister expressed regret that mutual trade exchanges had fallen to $7 million in the past two years from the $630 million before the Balkans crisis, and said Belgrade is determined to further diversify bilateral cooperation in all areas.

Praising the idea of "dialogue among civilizations" initiated by President Khatami, he said the world needs such a dialogue as shown by its reception of the idea.

He said the Balkans, more than anything else, needs to have this kind of dialogue because it has the largest number of ethnic groups among countries in Europe and experiences the most number of ethnic minority conflicts in the region in the 20th century.