Iran: Austria-Iran ties part of a "long tradition" - President Fischer tells Rouhani

Austria has never been a colonial power, "we didn't inherit problems from earlier times" and "that is why we can concentrate on the present and the future," Austrian President Heinz Fischer said as he met with President of Iran Hassan Rouhani in Tehran, Tuesday. Fischer praised Austrian ties with Iran as part of a "good and long tradition." Rouhani used the occasion to express Iran's readiness "to sit at the negotiating table with any country or world power" to negotiate a "secure, stable and democratic future for Syria." "Everyone must help the Syrian people, everyone must help to create security in Syria," he concluded. Austrian President Heinz Fischer arrived in Tehran on Monday for a three-day official visit to help improve mutual ties between both countries. During the visit Fischer is also due to meet Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His trip marks the first European head of state to visit Iran since the nuclear agreement signed in Vienna on July 14 with six major world powers.