TEHRAN – Kamal Kharrazi, chief of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, has said that it is “regrettable” if it is proven that reports of France’s involvement in the attack on Yemen’s Al Hodeidah Port are true.

Kharrazi said it is a “shame” that European countries have kept silence about the Yemeni conflict and even support the aggressors, Fars reported.

Kharrazi, who was foreign minister from 1997 to 2005 during the Khatami administration, made the remarks at a meeting in Tehran on geopolitical definition of Iran-France relations.

“What is happening in Yemen is a disaster, because of the mass killing of innocent people, who have nothing to defend themselves,” he said.

The support that Saudi Arabia and the UAE receive from the West, especially the U.S., allows them to commit crimes, he added.

Kharrazi then referred to historic ties between Iran and France, saying common interests in the Middle East is a ground for expanding bilateral relations.

“France traditionally played an importance role in Middle Eastern countries like Lebanon, Syria and Iran,” said the former chief diplomat.

He also said France left a sweet memory in the minds of Iranians by welcoming Imam Khomeini to the country before the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

MH/PA