Bahram Ghasemi said on Sunday that a French citizen who was arrested for entering Iran illegally has been released during recent days after completing legal process and clearing of charges.

Earlier this month on February 20, the France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told lawmakers a French businesswoman had been arrested on the Iranian island of Kish on October 21 for allegedly “signing an illegal mining contract and carrying out an unauthorized trip.”

The Yemeni crisis, the three-year aggression against the country, the killing of innocent people and the humanitarian crisis in Yemen have always been on the agenda of the diplomatic talks between the Islamic Republic of Iran and other countries, Ghasemi said while commenting on recent remarks by the UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt who claimed during meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif he had discussed the situation in Yemen with the latter offering him some promises on the issue.

“Iran has given no commitment to any country on Yemen; Yemen is an independent country and only Yemenis will decide on their country,” he noted, adding “by promises, Jeremy Hunt refers to commitments made at Stockholm summit between the Yemeni sides to establish a ceasefire.”

Ghasemi underlined that Iran will have no intervention in Yemen, but will spare no efforts in finding peaceful solution to Yemeni crisis and preventing continuation of humanitarian disaster in this country.

He added that various meetings were held last year between Iran and some European countries including France, Germany, UK and Italy who were interested in Yemen issue and, thanks to Iran’s efforts, grounds have been prepared for holding Stockholm meeting and UN-brokered intra-Yemeni talks.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he urged the international community to make efforts to find a solution to this disaster and save Yemenis from this difficult situation, calling on European states to stop selling and sending destructive arms to aggressors.

Speaking to Fars News Agency on Tuesday, Ghasemi said that Iran looks at INSTEX as a positive step that could facilitate the country’s trades at the global level, but it has never been the Islamic Repulic’s only option.

Now that the long-awaited mechanism has been established, the official said, it should become operational as soon as possible to fulfill its already delayed expectations.

He said Iran expects the European countries to pace the implementation of the mechanism as this is the least the EU could do to prove its commitments to the previous agreements, including JCPOA (the 2015 nuclear deal), with Iran.

Short for “Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges”, INSTEX was registered after months of negotiations and technical talks in the wake of the US administration’s unilateral exit last year from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Germany, France and Britain have helped set up and manage the clearinghouse. The three countries have sought broader support for the mechanism from all 28 EU member states to show European good faith in implementing commitments under the nuclear accord and to present a united front against any retaliation from Washington.

Tehran has grown frustrated with the Europeans’ slow response to the reimposition of the US’ unilateral sanctions.

There are still technical details to be worked out following the entity’s official registration. The payment channel is aimed to shield European companies from US sanction-related penalties. However, European companies and banks that do business with the US may still be hesitant to trade with Iran over concerns they could be hit with US penalties. Many European companies have already pulled out of Iran in response to US sanctions.

In a Monday statement, Ghasemi strongly condemned the brutal and inhumane attack, saying that the Iranian Foreign Ministry and the country’s embassy in Baghdad are seriously looking into the incident and pursuing the conditions of those wounded.

“The rejected and defeated terrorist groups in Iraq are still under the delusion that they are in existence,” official website of Foreign Ministry quoted him as saying.

“They wishfully think that they can damage the strong bonds and unity among the Iranian and Iraqi nations by committing such inhumane crimes, but they won’t achieve their inauspicious goals,” the spokesman highlighted.

“Such disasters will strengthen the two nations’ resolve to fully eradicate the remnants of criminals,” he added.

A bus carrying Iranian pilgrims in the south of Iraq’s Saladin governorate was targeted by terrorists on Sunday night, martyring one Iranian and wounding eight others. The attack was carried out when the bus was moving from a shortcut road which was not provided with security by Iraqi forces.

IRIB says that terrorists have opened fire on the bus from inside marshes while some Iraqi media report that a bomb has been exploded on the side of the road.

No terrorist group has yet claimed responsibility of the attack, however, Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces has blamed ISIL for the brutal terror attack.

Strong winds and torrential rainfall battered parts of Cuba, including the capital city of Havana, on Sunday night which is the strongest tornado to strike Cuba in nearly 80 years.

Amid the stormy weather, a powerful tornado ripped through parts of the city causing significant damage. The severe weather has been blamed for at least three deaths while more than 170 others have been hospitalized with varying injuries

In a statement on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghasemi, expressing regret over the tragedy in Cuba, said “Iran is ready to provide the affected people of Cuba with whatever relief aid necessary.”

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel visited emergency crews around the city overnight and wrote on Twitter that the damage from the tornado was “severe.” Strong winds damaged buildings and caused flooding in low-lying areas of Havana, according to a government statement, with the provinces of Pinar del Río, Artemisa and Mayabeque also affected.

In a statement on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Ministry noted that Polish Charge d’Affaires Wojciech Unolt has been summoned on Jan. 12 to receive the Islamic Republic’s note of protest over an anti-Iran conference to be jointly hosted by the US and Poland on 13-14 February in Warsaw.

During the meeting, head of the Eastern Europe First office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed the Islamic Republic’s protest over the holding of the conference by the Polish side in cooperation with the United States, adding “this is a hostile move by the United States against the Islamic Republic of Iran and Poland is expected to refrain from co-sponsoring the conference with the US.”

The Polish Charge d’Affaires offered some explanations about the conference, stressing that the conference is not anti-Iran, and that Poland’s positions are different from the recent remarks made by American officials.

The Iranian diplomat, for his part, deemed the explanations ‘insufficient’, and stressed the need for an immediate compensatory action by the Polish government; “otherwise, the Islamic Republic will have no other option but to take countermeasures.”

Referring to the historical relations between the two countries, Poland’s Charge d’Affaires stated that he would convey the message of the Iranian government to the relevant authorities in Poland.

In a late Saturday statement, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said the rumors on Iran’s withdrawal from JCPOA are totally untrue and the Islamic Republic remains committed to the pact.

His comments came in the wake of the recent media hype over Iran’s decision on pulling out of JCPOA.

The official added that such rumors seem to be systematically aimed at bringing chaos into the society so that the opportunists can ensure their own interests.

Ghasemi stressed that any decision on JCPOA lies only within the responsibility and authority of the High Council for Supervising JCPOA and not any other entity.

The official also denied “the baseless rumors “on resignation of Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and any dispute between him and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

According to IRIB, Bahram Ghasemi said there are consultations over the trips to some neighboring countries, and, as the foreign minister has said, his next destination after India will be Iraq.

In the near future, he noted, Dr. Zarif will visit neighboring countries, a move in line with Iran’s policy towards its neighbors, to expand all-out cooperation, deepen economic relations and political consultations; Iran’s policy towards deepening cooperation with neighbors is ‘unchangeable’.

Iran has been dealing with neighbors and regional countries in a positive and peaceful way, aiming to improve relations, as well as seeking a collective effort for peace, stability and sustainable security in the region, and further expansion of economic cooperation, he added.

Expressing that Iran’s record in the field of regional affairs is very brilliant, he said Iran wants peace, stability and security in all regional countries, especially in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.