PARIS Director General of the French Foreign Ministry's department of international cooperation and development Francois Niccolo here Thursday said that Iran and France can further strengthen their cultural and scientific ties. In a meeting with deputy Iranian Foreign Minister for training and research Sadegh Kharrazi, the French official referred to Iran's literary and cultural role in building human civilization and listed the cultural potentials existing in the two countries.

He hoped that in future France can place more scholarship to Iranian university students at the masters and doctorate level. Sadegh Kharrazi in the meeting, referring to common cultural points and the favorable grounds existing in the two countries, said these potentials demand further activities by officials of the two countries. Iran's deputy foreign minister pointed to the memoranda of understanding signed between the two countries and outlined Iran's efforts towards materializing these agreements.

He added that these memoranda of understanding can be extended to other fields including theater, cinema, research and the exchange of professors and university students. Sadegh Kharrazi arrived in Paris Tuesday to hold talks with French officials on ways of expanding and deepening ties between Iranian and French institutes and centers for studies and research. On Wednesday he met the heads of international relations institute and the French national library.

(IRNA)