New Delhi -- Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in a meeting with the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) of Iran here Tuesday, said: New Delhi is interested in further expansion of ties between Iran and India.

"Indo-Iranian cooperation in the areas of oil and gas has to be activated and I personally believe that Iran's gas has to be transferred to India as soon as possible," added Vajpayee.

Voicing his country's willingness to cooperate with Iran in the areas related to energy, Indian Prime Minister said: New Delhi is ready to invest in the oil, gas and petrochemical projects of Iran.

On the crisis in the Middle East, Vajpayee said: India has always stood by the rights of the Palestinians and still follows the same path.

The secretary of the supreme national security council of Iran, referring to the developments in the Indo-Iranian ties during the recent years, said: the gas pipeline from Iran to India is one of the strategic projects favored by both Tehran and New Delhi.

Praising the Indo-Iranian cooperation on Afghanistan, Hassan Rowhani termed the fight against terrorism as one of the most important axis of Indo-Iranian struggle in the regional as well as international levels.

He termed the presence of foreign forces in the region as a factor for boosting of terrorism and called for their exit from the region.

Denouncing the brutal killing of the Palestinians by the Israeli government as an human disaster in the region, the Iranian official termed the state terrorism of the Israeli government as root cause of the extremism.

Rowhani termed the rise in Indo-Pak tension as an excuse for presence and intervention of foreign powers in the region.

The secretary of the supreme national security council of Iran, leading a high level delegation of the country, arrived here Monday for a 4-day official visit on an invitation from his Indian counterpart.