Tasnim � President of Iran Hassan Rouhani called for efforts to exploit the political and economic potential for closer ties and �deeper friendship� with France.

In a message for his French counterpart on Saturday, Rouhani congratulated France�s government and nation on the Bastille Day, the national day of France which is celebrated on July 14.

In the congratulatory message for Emmanuel Macron, the Iranian president expressed hope that relations between Iran and France would grow in light of mutual understanding and joint efforts.

Rouhani also called for the employment of the existing political and economic capacities to deepen friendship and promote welfare for the people of the two countries.

Bastille Day is the French national holiday, which marks the storming of the Bastille in the 1700s and the beginning of republican democracy and the end of tyrannical rule.

In the 18th century, France was in deep economic and political crisis and people were unhappy with King Louis XVI's reign, which was dominated with food shortages and high taxes.

The Bastille was a medieval fortress and prison, which held many political dissidents, and had become a symbol of oppression and injustice in Paris.