[caption id="attachment_96417" align="alignright" width="138"] French Foreign Ministry's Director General for North Africa and the Middle East Jean-François Girault[/caption]
A senior French official has described Iran as a key partner in the Middle East, underlining the need for Paris-Tehran cooperation in resolving regional issues.
Jean-François Girault, the French Foreign Ministry's director for North Africa and the Middle East affairs, made the remarks in a meeting with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Tehran.

Girault said that Iran and France attach great significance to stability, security and territorial integrity of Lebanon.

The French official said that picking a president in Lebanon was a domestic issue, which should be agreed upon by the Lebanese only, but said that Iran, France and other influential countries could facilitate the process.

He also voiced his country’s support for the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Heidar al-Abadi and underscored political participation in the Arab country.

Highlighting Iran’s key role in Iraq, the French official said that if it weren’t for Tehran’s support for Iraq’s fight against ISIL, Baghdad would have been captured by the Takfiri terrorist group.

The Iranian official, for his part, said that Tehran and Paris can play a more active role in the Middle East. Amir-Abdollahian said the Islamic Republic welcomes cooperation with the European country in regional issues.

“Tehran strongly supports Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and other countries facing the threat of terrorism, and, at the same time, pays attention to the reinforcement of political trends, but rejects interference by foreign powers,” he said.

In the meeting, the two officials also discussed the situation in Syria and called for a lasting political solution to the crisis in the Arab country.

The ISIL terrorists currently control large areas of land across Syria and Iraq. The ISIL militants have been committing terrible atrocities in Iraq and Syria, including mass executions and beheading of local residents as well as foreign nationals.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese parliament is yet to pick a new president for the Arab country which has been without a head of state since May when Michel Sleiman’s term came to an end.

By Press TV

 

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