The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that over the past three years Iran has achieved one of the highest rates of growth in the Middle East and North Africa region. An IMF mission led by Abdelali Jbili, assistant director of the fund's Middle East Department, has completed a review of economic developments in Iran and held policy discussions with pertinent authorities within the framework of the IMF's annual consultations with Iran.

In its report, the mission noted that the Islamic Republic of Iran has achieved growth due to increased openness to international trade and investment, economic reforms and sustained oil prices. The overall economic situation in 2002/03 was favorable, with high and broad-based real GDP growth, a decline in the unemployment rate for the first time in recent years, low external debt, and rising international reserves.

The mission welcomed the progress achieved in economic reform in several areas, including trade liberalization, the establishment of private banks, the approval of the foreign direct investment law, the amendment of the tax law, etc. The prospects for 2003/04 also seem favorable and the momentum of investment and growth of the past few years is expected to continue.

The mission noted, however, that domestic demand pressures stemming from a monetary expansion policy have intensified, generating rapid growth of liquidity and putting upward pressure on inflation. The authorities shared the mission's views on the need for corrective fiscal and monetary policy actions to keep inflation under control and sustain growth under more stable financial conditions.

The mission also encouraged the authorities to accelerate and deepen reforms aimed at developing private sector activity and enhancing efficiency. It welcomed the important progress made in the area of economic transparency, including the publication of all IMF reports on the 2002 consultations, the improvement in the budget coverage, and the identification in the budget document of the implicit cost of energy subsidies. The mission expressed the IMF's willingness to continue providing technical assistance in support of the authorities' economic reforms.

Iran's Judiciary Chief, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, heading a high ranking delegation, arrived in Saudi Arabia and conferred here Sunday with his Saudi counterpart Abdullah Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim Ash-Sheikh on issues of mutual interests. They discussed expansion of judicial cooperation between Tehran and Riyadh.

Ayatollah Shahroudi described the political and security situation in the Middle East as very 'sensitive' adding that the strategic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia would benefit the region.

The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that the issue of terrorism stems from misjudgment of reactionary minds and the hostility of the Western world to Islam. Islam condemns terrorism while the global arrogant considers the legitimate defense against occupation of (Palestinian) territories as 'terrorism'. He said that the West abuses the issue of human rights as a tool.

Shahroudi called for cooperation between Iran and Saudi Arabia in promoting Islamic human rights in coordination with the Muslim World. Welcoming the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, he described it as a turning point in bilateral relations.

The Saudi minister, for his part, welcomed the expansion of mutual co-operation in the justice sector and called the trend 'positive'. "We believe that no country in the world can stay behind closed doors and ignore chances and opportunities", he said.

Abdullah Ash-Sheikh stressed that relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia help to prevent international interference in the region (our italics).