The Head of Iran-Mauritania friendship group described the issue of Palestine as the main concern of Muslims and said that Islamic countries should unanimously defend the rights of the Palestinians. Heshmatollah Falahat-Pisheh in a meeting with the Mauritanian charge d’affaires in Tehran Seyyedi Valad Mohammed al-Aghtaf appreciated the country for its anti-Zionist stance. He also hailed presence of the Mauritanian delegation in the Fifth International Conference in Support of Intifada held recently in Tehran. Falahat-Pisheh also voiced his country’s willingness to establish political, economic and social ties with Mauritania and said that parliamentarian relations are the first step towards developing ties between the two nations. Al-Aghtaf, for his part, appreciated Iran for holding the pro-Palestine conference and expressed his country’s support for Iran’s anti-Zionist stances. “Time is ripe for promoting bilateral ties in all fields and parliamentary relations will contribute a lot to this end,” he said. Mauritania is a country in West Africa.