Edward Shevardnadze to visit Iran?

Edward Shewardnadze says he might pay a visit to Tehran.

"I may go if the circumstances permit," he told a traditional briefing on Monday.

He said he had dozens of invitations to different countries, and he doubted the remaining two years of his presidential term would allow him to visit them all.

Commenting on media reports that said the USA might use the Georgian territory for a military operation in Iran, the president said Georgia was not negotiating anything of the kind with the Americans.

Speaking about relations with Iran, Shevardnadze reported that Georgia was actively co-operating with this Islamic republic as far as economy and trade were concerned. According to his words, Georgian specialists were actually working in Iran, but they were not taking part in any nuclear programs. "There used to be suspicions that physicists from the Sukhumi Physical and Engineering Institute are working on nuclear weapons in Iran, but this information was not confirmed," he said.