France says no decision on Iranian presence at Paris Iraq meeting

PARIS: France said on Wednesday no decision had yet been made on whether Iran would attend a conference in Paris next week to discuss how to tackle Islamic State militants controlling parts of Iraq and Syria.

Government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said the other four permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, Britain, China, Russia and the United States, would be represented.

France has previously said it would like Iran to be at the conference, although Iranian officials have indicated they see little point in holding a conference to tackle Islamic State across the region without some representation from the Syrian government.

"We will resolve the Islamic State problem with all the players involved. That also means Iran," said a senior French diplomat. "But there are two red lines: no bargaining with the nuclear talks and no Assad," he said of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.