Iran, Qatar vow to strengthen cooperation

TEHRAN, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Iran and Qatar on Sunday vowed to strengthen cooperation in all areas, particularly in trade and the joint construction of infrastructure projects, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported.

During a meeting held in the Iranian capital Tehran on Sunday, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Akbar Ahmadian and Qatar's Assistant Foreign Minister for Regional Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al-Khulaifi highlighted the necessity of expanding bilateral cooperation in those areas in accordance with specific plans and schedules and removing the obstacles to such cooperation, the report said.

Later in the day, the Qatari diplomat met Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Ali Bagheri Kani and discussed bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues of common interest, according to IRNA.

Khulaifi pointed to the growing relations between Doha and Tehran, saying his country is willing to improve economic ties with Iran.

The two diplomats called for a collective action by Islamic countries, especially through the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, against the desecration of Quran in Sweden and Denmark.

The Iranian deputy minister said the burning of Quran is tantamount to "trampling the basic and inalienable" rights of two billion Muslims, adding such acts in Europe are "flagrant violations" of human rights.

He said that Denmark and Sweden are responsible for putting an end to such "cultural brutalities" in their countries.

On Friday, the far-right Danish group of Danske Patrioter burned a copy of the Quran and trampled an Iraqi flag in front of the Iraqi Embassy in the Danish capital of Copenhagen, according to Danish media reports.

The move was meant to protest against the Iraqis' attack on the Swedish embassy in Baghdad a day earlier, according to the group.

Hundreds of angry protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad on Thursday. They set fire to the building in protest against the desecration of the Quran and the Iraqi flag in the Swedish capital of Stockholm.