Teheran, 29/07/2002 (Agence Europe) - After a meeting with the Iranian Foreign Minister Kharrazi, on 29 July in Teheran, the step before last in his trip to Asia, EU High Representative for CFSP Javier Solana reaffirmed that the EU hopes relations will be strengthened with Iran (see EUROPE of 25 July, p.3, on the subject of Mr Solana's trip). The EU decided a couple of weeks ago to open negotiations with Teheran on a Trade and Cooperation Agreement, but it does not believe that such an agreement can only be about economic and commercial aspects, Mr Solana said in a press release. He stressed that economic and political progress must go "hand in hand". "Our relation is a two-way relation - it will not progress unless there is a clear reciprocity", declared Mr Solana, for whom "EU-Iran relations can never reach their full potential if we do not eliminate problems that hamper such a positive development". He cited the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the Iranian attitude towards the Middle East, the fight against terrorism and the "continuation of the good cooperation that we have had with Iran in Afghanistan". "We have seen - and we continue to do so - a very interesting development in Iran (…), a very active public debate, public participation, establishment of NGOs. We hear the words Islamic democracy more and more frequently", Mr Solana noted. He underlined that "freedom of expression and freedom of the press are of fundamental importance for a democratic society".