Iran's top diplomat said Iran as a secure country in the volatile Middle East region is a reliable partner for Germany.
"Iran is a secure country in a region which is gripped by instability and terrorism and has been able to promote democracy, so it makes for a good partner," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a joint presser with his German counterpart, Sigmar Gabriel, in Berlin on Tuesday.
The German official said his country welcomes expansion of financial interaction with Iran, calling on Tehran to try to improve the conditions for the presence of international investors in the country, IRNA reported.
Earlier in the day, Zarif had called for the establishment of a new forum among the Persian Gulf states to help address conflicts.
"When foreign policy becomes a commodity, then purchasing military hardware becomes a yardstick for measuring who is and is not a terrorist," Zarif said in a speech to a meeting of the European Council on Foreign Relations in the German capital.
The top diplomat was referring to the multi-billion-dollar arms deal Saudi Arabia signed with the US last month, valued at $350 billion over 10 years and $110 billion that will take effect immediately.
"This reinforces a cognitive disorder in our region that security can be purchased from outside, that security can be purchased by trying to buy more military equipment. What is needed in our region is a regional dialogue forum," Zarif was quoted as saying by IRNA.
Escalating disputes between regional powerhouses Tehran and Riyadh resulted in a diplomatic crisis early last year.
The oil kingdom's hostility toward Iran has led to its rift with Qatar, one of its long-standing Arab allies.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed ties with Qatar on June 5, citing its close relations with Iran and alleged backing for terrorists.
They imposed a sea, air and land blockade on the tiny peninsular nation.
***European Leverage
Zarif urged Europe in his speech to use its influence to help resolve the latest Arab dispute in the strategic Persian Gulf.
He said the countries that accuse Iran or Qatar of backing terrorism are trying to shun responsibility for their own failures in addressing the demands of their own people.
"One day it's Iran, today it's Qatar," he said. "It's an attempt to evade responsibility, escape accountability for this very fundamental failure of the state system to address, to respond to the demands of [the people]."
President Hassan Rouhani has expressed support for Doha in the face of the Saudi-led economic and political hostility.
Qatar, which shares Iran's stance on some regional issues, has refused to join the Saudi-led ranks against the Islamic Republic.
Qatar supports the Palestinian group Hamas and Egypt's ousted Muslim Brotherhood.
Iran has backed Hamas and denounced the military coup in Egypt in July 2013, in which the democratically-elected president Mohamed Morsi, a Muslim Brotherhood member, was toppled in a Saudi-backed military coup.
However, the Tehran and Doha have supported opposing sides in Syria's six-year civil war, with Iran backing President Bashar Al-Assad, as opposed to Qatar which has supported the rebels fighting to topple the government in Damascus.
Iran and Qatar also share the world's largest gas field, which Iran calls South Pars and Qatar calls the North Field.
