Iran, French FMs discuss IRGC, prisoners, ties by phone
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his French counterpart Catherine Colonna discussed the latest issues in bilateral relations and some other important issues of mutual interest.
MEHR: Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his French counterpart Catherine Colonna discussed the latest issues in bilateral relations and some other important issues of mutual interest.
The Iranian and French foreign ministers held a phone conversation on Wednesday evening.
Referring to his recent meeting with his French counterpart in Jordan, Amir-Abdollahian highly regarded the historical relations between the two countries and described France's stances in fomenting the recent riots in Iran as unfriendly.
The Iranian minister criticized the interventionist remarks by some French officials and said that Tehran always prefers the path of negotiation and diplomacy, "but as you have seen, in our confrontational approach, our action is also swift, effective and reciprocal."
While criticizing the non-constructive recent stances and actions by the European Parliament towards the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), he pointed out, "The IRGC is an official governmental body and guardian of Iran's national security and plays an important role in maintaining the security of the region and the real fight against terrorism."
"The Islamic Republic of Iran will carefully monitor the behavior of the European Union and adjust its next steps accordingly," the top Iranian diplomat said.
Amir-Abdullahian noted, "In addition to these remarks and actions, we witnessed the unproportionate and insulting action of the French magazine [Charlie Hebdo] in attacking religious sanctities that was unfortunately repeated in two other European countries in the form of insulting the Holy Quran, the holy book of Muslims."
With regard to the cooperation between the two countries, he emphasized the need to focus on dialogue and interaction, adding "Don't repeat Trump's failed sanctions policy. From today, we are also exercising a new list of sanctions against the European Union and the UK which includes 33 European officials and entities in reciprocal action."
The French foreign minister, for her part, denied his country's meddling in Iran's internal affairs.
Emphasizing the importance of relations between Tehran and Paris, Colonna said, "France has not interfered in Iran's affairs."
Stressing the importance of maintaining the relations between the two countries, the French minister emphasized strengthening them through talks.
The French Foreign Minister also called for the release of the French nationals imprisoned in Iran for espionage charges and undermining national security.
The latest issues in consular cooperation were also exchanged views on by the two top diplomats in the phone call.
