BRUSSELS -- The Party of European Socialists (PES) has voiced support for the continuation of Europe's dialogue and engagement with the Islamic Republic of Iran, IRNA reported.

The party's position was expressed by its president Robin Cook at a press conference in Brussels Wednesday afternoon to present a report on 'Europe and new global order'.

"As foreign minister I commenced the dialogue between Britain and Iran and this dialogue has been conducted by my successor Jack Straw and I very much welcome the way in which he is working with the elected government of Iran," he said.

Robin Cook served as UK foreign secretary from 1997-2001 and was the leader of the House of Commons from 2001 till his resignation last March due to disagreements over the Iraq war.

"There is a mass franchise in Iran which results in an elected parliament of Iran and the people who have won the elections consistently in recent years have been the reformers who have made a way forward for the modernization of Iran and integration of Iran with the modern world," Cook said in reply to IRNA's question on Europe's ties with Iran.

"It is plainly logical and right that we in the West should want to do all we can to be supporters of those voices of reforms in Iran," he stressed.

"What worries me," Cook said, "is that some of the alarmed rhetoric that is coming from the other side of the Atlantic," could be used by some in Iran to portray the West as a threat not as a friend.

"This is not in our interest," he said.

Cook criticized President Bush's policies as 'not particularly helpful' for world politics.

Former Danish Prime Minister and PES rapporteur on globalization, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, sets out the action plan in the 150-page report for the Party of European Socialists.

"The kind of globalization we have is not the one we want. We want a multilateral and just globalization," he said.

"Instead of pre-emptive strikes we need pre-emptive policies," Rasmussen told the press conference.

Issues addressed in the report include terrorism and organized crime, Europe's military and police, reform of the United Nations, economic and social questions and EU relations with the world's poorest countries.

The aim of the report is to provide a long-term, coherent strategy to re-shape globalization through action and reform at EU and world level.

The party of European Socialists brings together the Socialist, Social Democratic and Labor Parties of the European Union. There are 20 member parties from the 15 member states of the EU, Cyprus and Norway. In addition there are 15 associate and six observer parties, mainly from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The PES was founded in 1992.