Iran is not seeking to "dominate" the Middle East, President Hassan Rouhani told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, according to the Iranian presidency.

"Our presence in Iraq and Syria is at the invitation of the governments of those countries to fight terrorism," Rouhani was quoted as saying in a telephone call with Macron.

"Iran does not seek to dominate" the region, he added, days after Paris accused Tehran of "hegemonic" ambitions in the Middle East.

source: AFP