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BD FM on visit to Iran

TEHRAN: Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abdus Samad Azad arrived here on Saturday on an official visit during which he is expected to seek Iranian aid for the construction of a second oil refinery in the port of Chittagong.

Azad told reporters at the airport that he would deliver an invitation for reformist Iranian President Mohammad Khatami to visit Bangladesh, state radio reported.

Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi, who welcomed him at the airport, praised the "excellent" relations between Tehran and Dhaka, the radio said.

Azad visited Iran before in August 1996. Then Iranian president Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani visited Bangladesh in October 1995. AFP