Iran FM to discuss nuclear programme, national's case in France visit

by AFP Staff Writers
Tehran (AFP) Nov 25, 2025
Iran's foreign minister will discuss the country's nuclear programme and the case of an Iranian citizen held in France during a visit to Paris this week, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.

The meeting between Abbas Araghchi and his French counterpart Jean Noel Barrot will come after France backed a resolution calling on Iran to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) access to key nuclear sites, including those bombed during the 12-day war with Israel in June.

In a statement, Iran's foreign ministry said the country's nuclear programme along with "the case of Iranian national Mahdieh Esfandiari, as well as regional and international developments" will be discussed.

In mid-June, Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran, triggering a 12-day war that the United States briefly joined with strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities.

Iran has since the war barred IAEA inspectors from visiting the bombed sites and last week it officially scrapped a cooperation framework agreement it had agreed with the agency after the war.

Tehran further said a new framework was needed to access the bombed sites, citing "safety and security risks".

Iran had already declared that agreement invalid since October after Britain, Germany and France triggered the return of UN sanctions that had been lifted under a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal.

In an interview published last week, Araghchi said talks with European governments were "no longer useful" after they triggered the snapback sanctions.

Wednesday's discussions will also tackle the case of Esfandiari, a 40-year-old Iranian, who was arrested in France in February on charges of promoting terrorism and later released on bail in October.

France and Iran had been in talks to exchange Esfandiari for French couple Cecile Kohler, 41, and Jacques Paris, 72, who had been held in Iran for more than three years.

Earlier this month, Iran said it has conditionally released Kohler and Paris who were immediately taken by French diplomats to France's mission in Tehran and were awaiting permission to be allowed to return to France.

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