IRNA Ready To Host Antara News Agency Reporters for Professional Exchanges

Tehran, March 2, IRNA – Managing Director of Islamic Republic News Agency Mohammd Khoddadi said on Saturday that IRNA is ready to host a group of reporters from the Indonesian news agency, Antara, in Tehran for professional exchanges. In a meeting with managing director of Antara, Saif al-Hadi, Khoddadi said that the two new agencies have cordial cooperation in exchange of news and bilateral visits, adding that IRNA is willing to develop direct news links. Criticizing western media for no reflecting realities, Khoddadi said that the issue created a wide gap among Muslims, which should be removed. The IRNA managing director said that D8 News Agency will be launched in Turkey next year, adding, ˈWe are interested in cooperation in multimedia service and photo links as well.ˈ D8 News Agency will be launched in cooperation with news agencies of the eight member states -- Iran, Indonesia, Turkey, Malaysia, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Egypt. Khoddadi called for sharing experience with Antara, saying that the more we get closer to each other, the more we can support each other. Al-Hadi, for his part, pointed to cultural affinities of the two countries and said Indonesia is interested to enjoy Iranˈs numerous capacities. Underlining the significant role of media, he hoped that the two news agencies will have close cooperation in the fields of multimedia service and news and photo links./end