Akhundi made the remarks Wednesday evening among reporters following his meeting with the visiting French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
“Cooperation between Iranian and French companies goes back a long way. During the recent visit to France, we also held satisfactory negotiations with various French companies on Iran’s transportation projects,” said Akhundi.
He also pointed to the meeting with Fabius, expressing hope that the talks which followed the recent nuclear agreement between Iran and the 5+1, would help better develop bilateral relations with the European country.
While pointing to the two countries’ long-standing relations in various fields such as sea, rail and air transportation, the Iranian minister stressed that Iran welcomes enhanced mutual cooperation with France and that the two sides could further promote ties in housing and urban development as well.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius arrived in Tehran on Wednesday for a day-long visit during which he met a number of Iranian senior officials and discussed various ways to develop bilateral ties.
Fabius’ visit to Iran is the first by a French foreign minister to the Islamic Republic in 12 years.