TBILISI AWAITS ARRIVAL OF SENIOR IRANIAN DIPLOMAT

RIA Novosti, Russia
August 14, 2006

TBILISI, August 14 (RIA Novosti) – Iran’s deputy foreign minister
will arrive in Georgia Monday on a two-day visit, where he will hold
talks with the South Caucasus country’s president and other leaders,
a national news agency said.

Novosti Georgia said that as well as meeting with President Mikhail
Saakashvili, Mehdi Safari would hold talks with Prime Minister Zurab
Nogideli and Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili.

The two countries became energy partners earlier in the year, when
Georgia signed an emergency contract with the Islamic Republic for
natural gas supplies in the midst of a nationwide energy crisis. The
Georgian leadership has expressed an interest in establishing long-term
gas imports from Iran, including the construction of a gas pipeline
connecting the countries via Armenia.