French actress Juliette Binoche, who is working on a new film with celebrated Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, is visiting Iran in order to deepen her knowledge of the country, the ISNA agency reported Wednesday.

"When you work with someone you have to know them," Binoche told the agency about Kiarostami, who won the 1997 Palme d'Or at Cannes for his "Taste of Cherry".

The Iranian auteur is working on his new picture "The Certified Copy" in Italy and has cast Binoche as a gallery owner enjoying a brief encounter with a British writer. It will be his first feature since 2002's "Ten".

"I would like to get to know Iran, the Iranian way of life, its history and philosophy," said Binoche after visiting the historic town of Kashan in central Iran.

"Iranians have come to the West for years, it's about time Westerners came to Iran and got to know it," said Binoche, who spent a week in Iran in April 2006 at Kiarostami's invitation. She is to leave in a few days.

Binoche said she was an admirer of Iran's 14-century mystic poet Hafez, who had inspired her when working on Anthony Minghella's 2006 movie "Breaking and Entering".

The actress won an academy award for her 1996 performance in Minghella's "English Patient".?