Pezeshkian to Macron:
Iran welcomes dialogue, but demands West’s respect for rights
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that Tehran has always welcomed dialogue to resolve differences, but it is the US and Europe that, as a trust-building measure, should respect Iran’s rights and stop trying to impose their excessive demands.
The Iranian president made the remarks in a phone conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday.
“It is not Iran that must prove its honesty and build up trust; rather, it is the United States and Europe that must win Iran’s trust by their sincerity”.
Pezeshkian said that Iran has repeatedly declared that based on a religious decree issued by Iran’s Leader and within the framework of its own security and defense doctrine, it has never sought to obtain nuclear weapons.
However, Iran has come under mounting pressure and sanctions on the false pretext of attempting to build nuclear weapons, he added.
Pezeshkian added that resolving misunderstandings through logic and dialogue is the principled approach of the Islamic Republic, noting that force and threats only worsen disputes rather than resolving them.
The French president, for his part, said he would work to set up a new negotiating framework so that a clear outcome could be reached between Iran and the Western countries.
“It is essential that our interactions and dialogues keep going in the direction of building transparency and trust so that we can reach an agreement, lift the sanctions, and improve and expand mutual relations,” Macron said.
He also expressed appreciation for what he described as Iran’s “practical steps” toward removing certain barriers and implementing previous agreements reached in earlier meetings.
It seems that the French president was referring to the release of two French nationals by Iran.
French nationals granted conditional release
On Tuesday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Tehran has released two French nationals on bail, who had been imprisoned for more than three years on spying charges.
He said that the detainees have been released “by the order of the presiding judge.”
The duo, he added, “will remain under supervision pending the next stage of judicial proceedings.”
Macron on Wednesday identified the two as Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris. Kohler and Paris were arrested in May 2022 while visiting Iran.
He welcomed this "first step" and said talks were underway to ensure their return to France as "quickly as possible.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that they were in “good health” at the French ambassador’s residence but declined to give details on when they would be allowed to leave Iran.
On October 21, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister, Vahid Jalalzadeh said Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian academic illegally imprisoned in France over pro-Palestine social media posts, had been included in a prisoner exchange plan.
Tehran came up with a political and consular package that both countries were to implement to expedite the release of Esfandiari, who had been arbitrarily detained in the European country for speaking out against the Israeli regime’s genocide in Gaza, the official noted at the time.
The 39-year-old Iranian translator and university lecturer residing in Lyon was arrested by the French police over her activity on a pro-Palestine Telegram channel.
Scheduled to go on trial in Paris from January 13, she was released on bail last month in a move welcomed by Tehran.