TEHRAN (Tasnim) � French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Thursday that in a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, they agreed to hold regular talks and meet at least once a year.

This trip to Tehran was a first one, because over the past 17 years no French foreign minister had made an official visit to Iran, Fabuis said in Paris after his one-day trip to the Islamic Republic.

Pointing to his Wednesday talks with Iranian officials, the French minister said one of their main outcomes was the decision about meetings between Iranian and French foreign ministers at least once a year.

In a meeting with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday, Fabius expressed his country's determination to expand its ties with Iran, and hoped for increased bilateral cooperation in the future.

"The French administration seeks to establish ties with Iran based on mutual respect and friendship," Fabius said.

Fabius's visit came two weeks after Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) reached a conclusion over the text of a comprehensive 159-page deal on Iran's nuclear energy program.

The comprehensive nuclear deal between Iran and the six powers (dubbed as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA) would terminate all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran after coming into force.

By Tasnim News Agency