Bahram Ghasemi made the remarks in his weekly press conference on Monday, saying “the visit of French President Emanuel Macron is on the agenda of both sides, but the exact date has not yet been determined.”
Ghasemi further noted the upcoming of visit of British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to Iran by the year-end, adding that Macron’s visit will most likely take place after Johnson’s trip.
The Iranian diplomat touched upon the remarks made by President Macron about Iran’s missile capabilities, saying “Macron’s position on Iran’s missile program was not accurate and we would like to ask for more consideration in taking such positions. His visit can prove helpful in lessening differences between the two countries on this issue.”
Macron, during a visit to Dubai on Thursday, said he was "very concerned" by Iran’s missile program, and called for talks on the issue. Iran has repeatedly stated that its defense affairs are not negotiable, and unrelated to the landmark nuclear deal signed back in 2015.
Ghasemi also maintained that the date for the visit of Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, has been almost set, saying “I think the visit will take place in a few weeks.
Talking about the “sudden” and “suspicious” resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the Iranian diplomat said “given Mr. Hariri’s remarks last night, we are hoping that he will return to Lebanon soon and announce the legal procedure of his resignation from his own country.”
Ghasemi was referring to Hariri’s interview with the Lebanese TV channel Future TV on Sunday, during which he claimed he is not being held captive in Saudi Arabia and will be returning to his country in the next few days.
Ghasemi went on to add, “we support any move aimed at restoring stability and security to Lebanon. Hariri’s remarks last night can be a shimmer of hope, although his resignation while in another country and his failure to return home was a strange and unprecedented move.”
To a question about the presence of a high-ranking EU delegation in Iran and the topic on the reopening of EU’s office here, Ghasemi dismissed the possibility of any links between the two cases, saying that the reopening of the EU’s office is still on agenda and will be announced to the public once a domestic consensus has been reached on it and initial preparations have been made.
Touching upon Foreign Minister Zarif’s visit to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and the outcomes of the tour, Mr. Ghasemi described the two-stop tour as successful, timely, and fruitful. “One of the main objectives of visit to Uzbekistan was participation at the International Conference on Security and Sustainable Development in Samarkand,” added the Iranian diplomat before describing the conference as efficient. He said that it was wise of Uzbek government to hold the event. “Issues like the ways of development in the Central Asia and the war on terrorism were discussed at the event,” highlighted Mr. Ghasemi.
When he was asked to comment on improving ties between Armenia and ‘the Zionist regime’, he dismissed he claim and said, “Any visit is not necessarily a sign of improvement in ties.” He hailed the good relations between Iran and Armenia and asserted that Iran has the minimum of problems with Armenia. “I hope they become more sensitive about their relations with and the measures of the Zionist regime,” he closed his comments on the question.
“I don’t think this round of meetings fruit the favorable results for Saudi Arabia and other adversaries of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Ghasemi said about the call of Saudi Arabia to hold a meeting of Arab League Foreign Ministers on Iran.
“About the claims made about Iran sending arms to Yemen I should say that we have dispatched no arm and weaponry to Yemen and basically there is no way to reach Yemenis because the Saudi-led coalition has blocked even the entrance of food supplies let alone weapons,” reiterated the Iranian diplomat.
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