VLADIMIR PUTIN PRESENTS PRESIDENT OF IRAN WITH HIS BOOK THAT WAS PUBLISHED IN RUSSIA








MOSCOW, March 12, 2001. /From RIA Novosti correspondent/.  Before the official negotiations with President of Iran began in the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia congratulated Mohammad Khatami on the coming New Year (according to the Muslim calendar) and the recent Muslim feast of the sacrifice.


	Mohammad Khatami is well known in Russia, said Vladimir Putin, noting that "the Iranian leader's book has just been published in our country. Vladimir Putin said that the book is of interest not only for Muslims, but also for the wide readership, because it presents a philosophical interpretation of such things as the mutual relationship between civilizations, between the East and West, which is very topical today.


	Vladimir Putin presented Mohammad Khatami with a copy of  his book that has come out in Russia.


	For his part, the President of Iran said that he felt the traditional Russian kindness in Vladimir Putin's words. "I am very glad to have received the possibility of visiting your good and beautiful country," noted Khatami and expressed the hope that his visit would be fruitful.


	The RIA Novosti correspondent reports that the meeting is held in the presence of the aides of the presidents of Russia and Iran. On the Russian side it is attended by Sergei Prikhodko, deputy head of the Kremlin Administration.