TEHRAN -- The third round of the Iranian and Brazilian Deputy Foreign Ministers' routine annual meetings opened here at the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On the first day of the three-day event Ali Ahani and Gilberto Saboya in their lectures focused on the expansion of bilateral ties, regional crises, and international cooperation.

Ahani emphasized on the need for expansion of bilateral ties between countries while preserving the national interests of each, considering the expansion of ties with Brazil and close cooperation with that country at international scenes of great importance for Iran. The Iranian deputy minister for Euro-American affairs also referred to the sensitive and effective role played by Iran in Afghanistan, as well as our country's logical stands and positive moves in global campaign against terrorism, adding, "The U.S. wayward policies at international scenes have damaged the global solidarity aimed at uprooting terrorism." The Brazilian deputy foreign minister, too, expressing delight over the expanding pace of the two countries' relations, said: "There are lots of grounds for expansion of cooperation in practical fields, but it seems like fully facilitating the currently discovered fields of mutual interest would be the best alternative."

Saboya also expressed his country's willingness to move toward balancing the two countries' financial ties, as well as making joint investments with Iran in both countries.

He added, "Iran is an influential country at the global scene today and Brazil welcomes Iran's initiative of dialogue among civilizations.

Elaborating on the effects of the September 11 attacks on Latin American political scene, the Brazilian Deputy Foreign Minister Saboya asked for systematic ties among the regional groups in which Iran and Brazil are members, arguing that such transcontinental ties would be beneficial to numerous nations at international scenes, particularly from the economic point of view.

The regular annual meetings of the Iranian and Brazilian deputy foreign ministers that is held in Iran for the second time after its last year session in Brasilia has opened wide prospects of regional and international cooperation for the two countries based safeguarding mutual interests, IRNA reported.