Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke by phone with his British counterpart Yvette Cooper, Iran’s foreign ministry said on Saturday, in a rare example of direct contact between the two countries.
The ministry said that in their conversation on Friday, the ministers “stressed the need to continue consultations at various levels to strengthen mutual understanding and monitor issues of common interest.”
A British government source said Cooper “stressed the need for a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear program and raised a number of other issues.”
A London source said Cooper mentioned the case of Lindsay and Craig Foreman, a British couple who have been detained in Iran for almost a year on suspicion of espionage.
The Iranian ministry’s statement did not mention the case of the two Britons.
The ministry said Araghchi criticized “the irresponsible approach of three European countries to the Iranian nuclear issue,” referring to Great Britain, France and Germany.
At the end of September, the three countries initiated the reimposition of UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.
The Foremans, both in their early fifties, were arrested in January while passing through Kerman in central Iran during a round-the-world motorcycle trip.
Iran accuses the couple of entering the country pretending to be tourists to gather information for foreign intelligence services, which the couple’s family denies.
Before Friday’s talks, the last exchange between the two ministers was in October.
(Vijesti.ba)
