BRUSSELS -- A 3-member delegation from Iran's Majlis (Parliament) met the President of the Belgian Parliament Herman de Croo in Brussels and discussed parliamentary ties between the two countries.

The Iranian deputies are in Brussels to participate in the EU-Iran human rights dialogue which began Friday.

In the meeting, De Croo underlined Iran's leading role in the region and called for strengthening of parliamentary and economic ties between the Islamic Republic and Belgium, Iranian diplomatic sources told IRNA Friday.

The Iranian side conveyed the greetings of Majlis Speaker Mahdi Karrubi to De Croo and hoped that an Iran-Belgian friendship group will be formed in the Belgian Parliament following the general elections in Belgium this summer.

The Iranian deputies held a separate meeting with Pierre Chevalier, chief of the Belgian Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee, and exchanged views on regional developments especially the Iraqi crisis.

The Iranian MPs also met several members of the foreign affairs committee and exchanged views on the ways the committee functions.

De Croo paid an official visit at the head of a Belgian parliamentary delegation to Iran in December 2001.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Mamedov has also noted the importance of the Iranian soonest signing of an additional protocol to the guarantee agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

He made the statement at a Friday meeting with Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Gholamreza Shafei, sources at the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The Russian-Iranian cooperation in atomic energy "is exclusively peaceful. It is based on the strict adherence of both countries to international treaties," the diplomats said. They confirmed the readiness for "further development of mutually beneficial relations."

The diplomats discussed topical issues of the Russian-Iranian and international relations in the light of the recent visit of Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov to Tehran.

They touched upon the Iraqi crisis and the situation on the Korean peninsula. The diplomats reaffirmed the common position of Moscow and Tehran in favor of the peaceful political solution of conflicts on the basis of the UN Charter and international commitments.