WESTERN DIGNITY : FIRST WESTERN HEAD TO TEHRAN / STANDING SIDE BY SIDE WITH SHIMON PERES / TOGETHER WITH BUSINESS LEADERS

 EAST KURDISTAN (IRAN) : Austrian president poised for rare Western visit to Iran

“The invitation from the Iranian side has been accepted in principle but no date has been set,” Fischer’s spokesman said: Austrian President Heinz Fischer has ‘in principle’ accepted an invitation to visit Iran, his office said on Wednesday, in what would be the first trip for many years by a Western head of state.

It remains under sanctions, however, and a visit by Fischer, perhaps accompanied by business leaders, would be fraught with political significance as the United States presses Western countries to limit commerce with Tehran. “The invitation from the Iranian side has been accepted in principle but no date has been set,” Fischer’s spokesman said, declining to give any more details given the delicate diplomacy at stake. Fischer stood side by side with visiting Israeli President Shimon Peres this week as Peres urged Western countries to keep up the pressure on Tehran over its disputed nuclear programme. No Western head of state visited Iran under either of Rouhani’s predecessors – Mohammad Khatami, who was president from 1997 to 2005, or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. http://www.worldbulletin.net/todays-news/132704/austrian-president-poised-for-rare-western-visit-to-iran