Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov (IsraelBeiteinu) on Wednesday shook hands with his Iranian counterpart, HamidBaghaei, at an international tourism fair held in Madrid.
Among other booths, the minister and the Israeli representatives visited the Jordanian, Egyptian and Moroccan booths.
When Misezhnikov arrived at the Iranian booth, the manager ofthe booth greeted him warmly and presented Iran's tourist attractionsto the minister. He went on to invite the Israeli minister to visit theIslamic republic. Baghaei, who was at the booth, shook Misezhnikov'shand.
Misezhnikov expressed hope that Israelis citizens would soon beable to visit Iran again, and said that "Israel and Iran are in thesame area and tourism could serve as a bridge between the nations."
The minister went on to stress that before relationsbetween the countries could change, Iranian President MahmoudAhmadinejad must stop incitement against the state of Israel and theJewish people and "return his country to the family of nations."