Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius

France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius arrived in Tehran for a one-day visit on Wednesday and was due to meet President Hassan Rouhani and several ministers, Iran's state news agency IRNA said.

He is the first French foreign minister to visit Iran for 12 years and his trip comes after a landmark nuclear deal between major powers and Tehran under which Western sanctions are to be lifted in exchange for limits on Iran's nuclear programme.

Fabius took a particularly tough line with Iran ahead of the deal. He was quoted by IRNA as saying a high-ranking French economic and business delegation would visit Iran in September.