"The rank of the French envoy does not pose any problem and the person would be received by his Iranian counterpart of the same rank," said top Iranian national security official Ali Larijani, according to the ISNA agency.

"Iran has no reason to adopt a cold attitude towards the French request to send an envoy," he added.

The French foreign ministry on Tuesday confirmed it was discussing plans to send a special envoy to Iran to discuss "regional issues" including Lebanon and Israel's right to exist.

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