In comments on Thursday night, Araqchi talked about the purposes and results of his visit to France.
He said the trip to Paris was a continuation of the consultations and exchanges Iran holds with France in various areas, including bilateral relations, regional issues, nuclear matters, and European topics such as Ukraine.
Araqchi stated that while Iran and France have differences on several subjects, political dialogue has always continued. He recalled that the two sides had extensive discussions in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly this year, noting that the presidents of the two countries had also recently held a telephone conversation.
Dialogue is a necessary and natural element in international relations, he explained, adding that understanding each other’s positions and avoiding misunderstandings and miscalculations have always been important and remain major objectives of such talks.
On bilateral issues, Araqchi said the case of release of Iranian citizen Mahdieh Esfandiari had recently been one of the important matters between the two countries and it is now in its final stages.
There were problems and obstacles affecting the functioning of the embassies of Iran and France, but it had been agreed that these would be resolved, he explained.
Araqchi stated that detailed discussions have been held about the nuclear issue, during which he explained Iran’s positions.
He stressed that, at the present time, a balanced and fair negotiation is not possible because of the approach of the United States.
Iran has always been ready for dialogue and has never abandoned the field of diplomacy, Araqchi underlined, but noted that negotiations have their own rules and can only be held -or succeed- if those rules are respected.