Omani speaker visits Iranian parliament

Speaker of Oman's Advisory Council Khaled bin Hilal bin Nasser Al-Mawali, heading a parliamentary delegation, paid a visit to the Iranian parliament.During the visit on Tuesday, Mawali was welcomed by his Iranian counterpart Ali Larijani.Addressing the session, Larijani thanked Mawali for his visit to Iran's Islamic Consultative Assembly, and lauded the close ties between the two Muslim countries."Our relationship has always enjoyed a strong foundation," Larijani said, adding that regional developments have left no negative impact on the two countries' relations.He also expressed the hope that the visit by the Omani speaker could result in the further deepening of the bilateral relations.The Omani top legislative official and his accompanying delegation are in Tehran at the invitation of Larijani.Iran and Oman have expanded cooperation in a variety of areas such as economy and defense since Iran's President Ahmadinejad took office in 2005.