VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict met Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Wednesday and called for dialogue to overcome conflicts, in an apparent reference to Tehran's standoff with the West over its atomic programme.
The comments came on the day that Iran's parliament passed a bill obliging the government to 'revise' the level of its cooperation with the IAEA nuclear watchdog and urging President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to 'accelerate Iran's nuclear activities'.
The Vatican said in a statement that the Pope exchanged 'warm wishes' with Mottaki.
'The problems of people are always resolved through dialogue, mutual comprehension and in peace,' the Vatican said.
Mottaki, during a private audience with the leader of the world's 1 billion Roman Catholics, delivered a letter to the Pope from Ahmadinejad.
'The message is completely non-political,' Ehsan Jahandideh, a presidential office spokesman was quoted as saying by Iran's ISNA students news agency.
'The president has emphasised in the message that cooperation of divine religions will help resolving problems of mankind,' it said.
In his message for the Catholic Church's World Day of Peace, celebrated on Jan. 1, the Pope expressed concern that more countries wanted to become nuclear powers. He did not specifically mention Iran or North Korea.
He said the desire of some states to acquire nuclear weapons had thrown humanity back to the 'profound anxieties of the Cold War period'.
The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on Saturday to impose sanctions on Iran's trade in sensitive nuclear materials and technology, in an attempt to stop uranium enrichment work that could produce material that could be used in bombs.
Iran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons.
(Additional reporting by Alireza Ronaghi in Tehran)
The president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has sent a letter to Pope Benedict XVI which was delivered by the Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.

Vatican City has not released the contents or details of the letter, but news agencies in Iran report that the letter contains a discussion about the United Nations resolution against Iran, which imposes sanctions.

In a statement, the Pope said that he "reaffirms the role that the Holy See intends to carry out for world peace, not as a political authority but as a religious and moral one ... so that peoples' problems will always be solved in dialogue, mutual understanding and peace."

Ehsan Jahandideh, a spokeperson for the President of Iran's office, states that the letter "is completely non-political. The president has emphasized in the message that cooperation of divine religions will help resolving problems of mankind."

There is no word on whether or not the contents of the letter will be released to the public.