Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Tuesday that Iran and France were seriously determined to expand political, cultural and economic ties.
Mottaki made the remarks in a meeting with member of French National Assembly Xazier de Roux while pointing to deep-rooted ties between the two sides.
"Iran and France enjoy great potentials to develop cooperation.
France is an important European partner for Iran," he said.
Referring to terrorist measures adopted by terrorist Mujahideen Khalq Organization (MKO) to damage ties between Tehran and Paris, he said, "There is no a good or bad terrorist in the world."
The minister pointed to France’s special cultural and scientific position in the world and called on the country to resist to scientific apartheid and discrimination among countries on peaceful use of nuclear energy.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran is against production, proliferation and test of nuclear weapons," Mottaki said.
The French MP, for his part, assessed as "very pivotal" Iran’s role in establishing regional and international peace and security.
He said France has an independent stance on regional and international developments, adding cooperation with Iran to establish peace and security in the region would be inevitable.
He stated that his country’s officials regard the MKO as a terrorist group.
On Iran’s nuclear case, he stressed that Paris has never opposed to Tehran’s right to have access to peaceful nuclear energy and expressed his country’s readiness to cooperate with Iran in this field.
IRNA – November 07, 2006