A former French official said Iran's role in maintaining a balance between regional states is of great significance.
In a recent article published by Le Monde Diplomatique, Dominique de Villepin underlined Iran's regional role and said, "Since Iran plays a crucial part in keeping a balance in the region, it should be taken into account that it can act as a bridge between the West and the East," Fars news agency reported on Wednesday.
Warning against any break in the process of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany), he wrote, "The talks on Iran's nuclear issue are in a critical stage and the European states present at the negotiations, namely France, Germany and Britain seek a sound agreement."
The article says in part that the preliminary agreements reached so far have yielded positive results, while reaching a final deal is far from being easy as the US Congress is predominantly controlled by the Republicans.
The former French prime minister said there are still unresolved technical issues in the talks, but any hiatus in the negotiations caused by the West can have serious repercussions.
De Villepin served as French prime minister from 2005-2007 and was among the opponents of the US aggression against Iraq in 2003.
