H.E. Mr. Javad Kachoueian:

Thank you very much, Chairman, honourable Deputies and Senators. In the name of God, the compassionate and merciful, I am pleased to have been invited here to exchange views on different aspects of bilateral relations, as well as important regional and international issues with the committee.

Iran attaches great importance to its relations with Ireland. The people of my country have always had good feelings towards Ireland and the Irish people. Iran and Ireland have always had good relations with each other.

It is very important that there is no negative point in our mutual relations. We hope very much that the already friendly relations between our countries will develop and deepen under our mutual efforts. Fortunately, there is much capacity and potential in our relations in different political, economic, trade, scientific and cultural fields. We share many common international policies, including the importance of the elimination of weapons of mass destruction and rejecting unilateralism and the use of military force in solving international and regional crises. We continue to co-operate with Ireland on these issues.

There is lots of potential and there are many possibilities for the two countries. The value of the annual trade in beef before the appearance of BSE, which caused the ban on the importation of Irish beef, was more than $500 million. Fortunately, the ban on the importation of Irish beef was lifted last year and the legal ground for the importation of Irish sheepmeat was also prepared. Other than meat, there are many other potential areas of trade, including IT, petrochemicals, petroleum and petroleum products, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, food and agriculture stuffs and renewable energy. Iran is a very safe country in the Middle East with a population of 77 million people. It could be a great market for Irish goods, especially in view of the fact that Irish goods, in the format of joint ventures between Iranian and Irish companies, can be re-exported to the markets of our 15 neighbouring countries, whose populations total 200 million. The current annual volume of trade between our two countries is approximately €50 million, which is by no means proportionate with the potential and the possibilities. We can easily increase our mutual annual trade to €1 billion in a year.

Iran, with its huge oil and gas resources, equivalent to 400 billion barrels, is the world's largest source of fossil energy. There are two main pillars in Iran's sustainable development program: first, securing long-term sustainable energy in Iran; and second, participation in global energy security. We are ready to co-operate on these issues as well. The population in Iran is mainly young and therefore the number of youths looking for seats in universities in all fields has been increasing. Nowadays, there are 600,000 students taking part in doctorate degree entrance exams each year. Only 70,000 of them can enter universities in Iran; the rest must find universities abroad. Given the presence of a few high-ranking universities in Ireland, the two countries can work successfully in this area as well. Nevertheless, there are some obstacles, namely the long process of granting visas to foreign students, which needs to be solved. There is lots of potential for mutual cultural co-operation in the arts, including painting and film, and in exploring and rehabilitating historical monuments. Iran is among the ten leading countries internationally with regard to the presence of historical places. There is a good potential for Iran and Ireland to expand their co-operation in the field of the tourism industry. We have already had some university and media delegations visiting Iran, namely DIT and Dublin's Griffith College, and the recent visit of some Irish journalists. A few MOUs have been signed between Irish and Iranian universities and scientific institutions.

Iran attaches specific importance to the promotion of parliamentary relations between the two countries. The Parliament, as the the main pillar of the legislative branch, has an outstanding position in the political system of Iran. Iran's parliaments have always been diverse, containing women and many ethnic minorities. It also designates five seats for religious minorities, including Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians, proportionate to their populations. The recent visit of the parliamentary delegation headed by Deputy Pat Breen, the Chairman of the joint committee, was a good event in the annals of official contacts between the two countries. The delegation had different useful and constructive negotiations with Iranian officials, including the Speaker of Parliament and the Foreign Minister. The visit received good coverage in the Iranian mass media. Following that visit, our Speaker of Parliament officially invited Deputy Seán Barrett, the Ceann Comhairle, for an official visit to Tehran. The visit will take place in September of this year. We are also working on the visit of Mr. Heravi, the head of the Iran-Ireland Parliamentary Friendship Group, to Ireland in the near future. The visit to Iran last week of a delegation from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade - Mr. Barrie Robinson, political director, and Mr. Pat Kelly, director general for Middle East and the north African region - was also a good development in our mutual relations. We are aware of Ireland's important role in EU and international and regional organisations as well as in maintaining peace and security. Irish peacekeeping forces under UNIFIL in Lebanon and the Golan Heights perform an important and useful role in that field. Like Ireland, Iran attaches great importance to the peaceful and diplomatic solution of regional and international crisis. Iran, as one of the most important and effective countries in the Middle East, is always ready to exchange views with Ireland on important regional and international issues.

I congratulate Ireland on its successful exit from the troika bailout programs. It is a good sign which indicates the recovery of the economic situation and the restoration of the economic reputation of Ireland. We hope, with the reopening the Irish embassy in Tehran and the efforts of the two embassies, to witness the further deepening and development of our relations. Once again, I express my gratitude to the organisers of the committee for the opportunity that has been given to me to meet with the members to discuss regional and international issues.