Iranian, French presidents affirm desire to improve ties

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron affirmed on Monday their mutual readiness to cement the bilateral relations between Tehran and Paris. The official Iranian news agency, IRNA, said president Pezeshkian affirmed during a phone call from Macron that Tehran was ready to elevate the level of the bilateral ties on the basis of "honesty and mutual confidence." Pezeshkian expressed deep concern at the current escalation of violence along the southern Lebanese borders, warning that a wide-scale aggression by the Israeli occupation on Lebanon would lead to dire consequences. For his part, Macron expressed hope that the relations between Iran, France and other European states would be expanded in the near future. Source: Kuwait News Agency