PARIS (Dispatches) – France’s foreign minister has held a rare face-to-face meeting with her Iranian counterpart in China, the foreign ministry said Friday.
Catherine Colonna, travelling with President Emmanuel Macron on his state visit to China, met Hussein Amir-Abdollahian in Beijing.
Amir-Abdollohian was leading the Iranian delegation in separate reconciliation talks in Beijing between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
China mediated the reconciliation last month in a sign of Beijing’s growing clout in the Middle East.
Iran’s foreign ministry confirmed the meeting took place, adding that “some consular issues were also raised during the meeting”.
“The talks also focused on the situation in Iran, regional issues and the Iranian nuclear program,” the statement said.
For its part, the Iranian foreign ministry said: “The foreign ministers of the two countries emphasized the necessity of mutual respect and continuation of dialogue.”