PARIS: French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Wednesday that all Iranian militia, including Hezbollah, must leave Syria, whose civil war has thrown the Middle East into turmoil.
Asked in an interview on BFM TV whether he wanted Turkish armed forces to withdraw from Syria, Le Drian replied that he wanted: "The withdrawal of all of those who ought not to be in Syria, including Iranian militia, including Hezbollah."
Le Drian also said that "all indications" suggest the Syrian regime is using chlorine weapons in its nearly seven-year civil war against rebel forces.
"All indications... tell us today that chlorine is being used by the regime at present in Syria," Le Drian told BFM television.
The French FM also said that Turkey and Iran were among those violating international law by their actions in Syria and warned that Ankara should not add "war to war".
"Ensuring the security of its borders does not mean killing civilians and that should be condemned. In a dangerous situation in Syria, (Turkey) should not add war to war," Le Drian told BFM TV.
International law "is being violated by Turkey, by the Damascus regime, by Iran and those who are attacking eastern Ghouta and Idlib", he said.
France FM: All Iranian militia, including Hezbollah, must leave Syria
France FM: All Iranian militia, including Hezbollah, must leave Syria
Iran, UK foreign ministers in rare direct contact
- A UK government source said Cooper “emphasized the need for a diplomatic solution on Iran’s nuclear program and raised a number of other issues”
TEHRAN: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has spoken by phone with his British counterpart Yvette Cooper, an Iranian foreign ministry statement said on Saturday, in a rare case of direct contact between the two countries.
The ministry said that in Friday’s call the ministers “stressed the need to continue consultations at various levels to strengthen mutual understanding and pursue issues of mutual interest.”
A UK government source said Cooper “emphasized the need for a diplomatic solution on Iran’s nuclear program and raised a number of other issues.”
The source in London said Cooper raised the case of Lindsay and Craig Foreman, a British couple detained in Iran for nearly a year on suspicion of espionage.
The Iranian ministry statement did not mention the case of the two Britons.
It said Araghchi criticized “the irresponsible approach of the three European countries toward the Iranian nuclear issue,” referring to Britain, France and Germany.
The three countries at the end of September initiated the
reinstatement of UN sanctions against Iran because of its nuclear program.
The Foremans, both in their early fifties, were seized in January as they passed through Kerman, in central Iran, while on a round-the-world motorbike trip.
Iran accuses the couple of entering the country pretending to be tourists so as to gather information for foreign intelligence services, an allegation the couple’s family rejects.
Before Friday’s call, the last exchange between the two ministers was in October.
