A week after the release and return to France of two French nationals imprisoned in Iran after being convicted of different charges in Iran, the head of Iranian diplomacy foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian assured in an interview with Le Figaro on Thursday May 18 that the Islamic Republic would “make efforts” to keep contacts with the French government to secure release of four other French imprisoned in Iran after being convicted over committing crimes.
“We agree with (Catherine) Colonna to make efforts to secure the release of French nationals who are already convicted and imprisoned in Iran, but the continuation of this case rests with the judiciary of our country,” said Iran’s foreign minister, according to Le Figaro.
Amir-Abdollahian told the French magazine that it was through negotiation that the release of the two Frenchmen on May 11 had been obtained, saying “We talked about all the misunderstandings between us. There have been agreements between us and part of our agreements have resulted in the release of the two French nationals a few days ago. ”
The Iranian diplomat said Iran and France “pursue their contacts” to regulate their misconceptions. 
In response to another question about his recent remarks in which he had welcomed Mr. Emmanuel Macron’s realistic approach, he said, “Mr. Macron started the work well with the current administration in Iran. In order to reach a positive result in the negotiations, he had constructive and good contacts with Mr. Raeisi. Mr. Macron even asked his Iranian counterpart to intervene to establish a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. But during the riots [in Iran in autumn], a massive psychological and media warfare was launched against the people of Iran. At the time, Mr. Macron presented the wrong view of Iran, but he quickly realized that nothing was going to happen in Iran.”
“Therefore, we are currently continuing our contacts to resolve misunderstandings between the two countries,” the foreign minister further said.
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