TEHRAN – Iran’s joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) was mooted at the organization’s conference in Hong Kong. The issue since then has been seriously followed up, noted the deputy Foreign Minister in the Economic Affairs Alireza Sheikh-Attar.

“The Malaysian ambassador to Geneva who is a prominent economic figure and well-known worldwide has been chosen and introduced to mediate between Iran and the secretariat of the WTO”, Sheikh-Attar also said adding, negotiations on the subject will begin soon, the Persian service of Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) said here on Saturday.

Referring to the third round of EU-Iran negotiations on the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) he commented that alongside the nuclear talks with the Europeans, Iranian delegates continued their negotiations on the TCA with them. However, he added, for the time being Iran’s priority is its nuclear talks with the EU.

He also reassured that the delay in the TCA talks was not considered as “something horrible” because, it would be resumed anyway.

The Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference was held in Hong Kong, China, from December 13-18, 2005.