Senior French MPs call for expansion of ties with Iran

French Senators Joelle Garriaud-Maylam and Jean-Yves Leconte, in a meeting with Chairman of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi, voiced France's readiness for bolstering bilateral ties with Iran in all fields. Speaking at a meeting in Tehran on Wednesday, Garriaud-Maylam expressed the French Senate’s readiness for expanding parliamentary ties with Iran’s parliament. She said that French and Iranian parliaments can facilitate further enhancement of all-out relations between Paris and Tehran. Leconte, for his part, hailed Iran’s significant and influential role in the Middle-East, noting that Tehran greatly contributes to the regional security as a mighty and stable country. The two French senators left Paris for Tehran in early hours of Wednesday to confer with senior officials here on ways of bolstering mutual cooperation between the two countries. Late in May, former Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Ali Asqar Khaji and French Foreign Ministry Director-General for North Africa and Middle-East Affairs Jean Francois Giroux in a meeting in Tehran discussed bilateral ties and regional developments. During the meeting in Tehran, Khaji pointed to Iran's prominent position in the region and the country's efforts to promote regional and international peace and stability, and said, "Tehran seeks to enhance its cooperation and interaction with the European countries, including France, based on its own diplomatic principles." Giroux, for his part, underlined the importance of Iran's influential role in the regional developments and called for continuation of bilateral talks between Iran and France. Also on Saturday, a ranking delegation from the European parliament, comprised of three Socialist European lawmakers, headed by Hannes Swoboda, arrived in Tehran for a four-day visit.