PARIS: France’s foreign minister said she had told her Iranian counterpart on Thursday that Tehran would bear a heavy responsibility if the conflict in Gaza spreads across the region.

“Meeting today with my Iranian counterpart in the form of a warning: the extension of the current conflict in Gaza would not benefit anyone, and Iran would have a heavy responsibility,” Catherine Colonna said after a face-to-face meeting in Geneva with Hossein Amirabdollahian.

The conversation was the latest between French and Iranian officials as Paris looks in particular to defuse tensions between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah. Ties between France and Iran have also been strained in recent months over what Paris has said are arbitrary arrests of four of its citizens that it says are equivalent to state hostage taking.