Hungary to boost nuclear cooperation with Iran: FM

Hungary and Iran have agreed to boost their cooperation in nuclear technology, Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told a news conference in Budapest on Friday.

Szijjarto made the announcement following a meeting with Iranian Vice President and chief of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi.

The Hungarian foreign minister said the agreement called for expanding training for Iranian nuclear experts. He said his country would call on the European Union to help train Iranian nuclear professionals and to evolve scientific cooperation focused on peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

He also said that Hungary was planning to begin talks with Iran on how its businesses could participate in extracting Iranian hydrocarbons (oil and gas).

On his part, Salehi said that links between Hungary and Iran truly had to be boosted in the new era, following international agreement on monitoring Iran's nuclear program. He called his two-day visit to Hungary a successful one, adding that talks had focused on opportunities for scientific and industrial cooperation.

Iran is an important country in its region and an important market, Salehi added. He described Iran as "an anchor of stability" in a very volatile region.

Szijjarto said the success of negotiations between Iran and the international community had substantially increased global security which was very important to Europe.

Given Iran's location and the heightening conflicts in the region, common sense cooperation with Iran could be an important advance towards overall Middle East stability and security, he added.

Szijjarto, citing the immigration crisis triggered by the Middle East conflicts, said Iran was potentially part of the solution. He also suggested that the transatlantic community and Russia could cooperate on resolving problems in other parts of the Middle East, as they had in Iran. He called for multilateral diplomacy and common sense to alleviate the conflicts. Endite