IFP- French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who is also the head of Iran-France Joint Economic Commission, will lead an economic delegation in an official visit to Tehran soon, Qassemi said in his weekly press conference on Monday.

His visit will likely be made within the next week, he noted.

�Our ties with France are age-old, and the current trend of ties is a good one. I hope we can reach good agreements on economic issues,� Qassemi went on to say.

He also expressed the hope that Iranian and French officials would exchange views on global and regional issues.

�I hope the talks would be useful for Iran, and lead to further openings in bilateral ties,� the Iranian spokesman added.

Kuwaiti FM Due in Iran for Regional Talks

Kuwait�s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah will also lead a delegation in a visit to Tehran in coming days.

�It has been a long time that the issue of Kuwaiti delegation�s visit to Tehran is being discussed. Dates were announced once or twice, but the Arab side changed it due to technical reasons.�

�The Kuwaiti Deputy PM and FM will visit Tehran in the next two or three days, and we will hold talks with them,� he added, according to a Farsi report by ILNA.

Kuwait�s Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled al-Jarallah had earlier this month announced that the State of Kuwait would relay a message to Iran from the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council member states.

Al-Jarallah said in a statement that contacts were underway �with the Iranian brothers to set a proper date to deliver that message.� However, he stopped short of elaborating on its contents, KUNA reported.

In December, following the PGCC summit hosted by Bahrain, Al-Jarallah declared that Kuwait had conveyed an identical message to Iran, �expressing the [P]GCC states� view regarding dialogue� with the Islamic Republic.

Relations between Tehran and some Persian Gulf Arab states have been damaged over differences on some regional issues.