U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden is hailing France's military intervention in Mali to drive back Islamist extremists who had seized control over much of the African country.

Biden met with French President Francois Hollande in Paris on Monday. Biden said Hollande's "decisive action" to send troops and airstrikes to Mali "was not only in the interest of France but of the United States and everyone."

France and the United States have worried that northern Mali, under control of Islamist radicals and drug traffickers, could become a haven for terrorists.

It's Biden's first visit to France as vice president. Biden also praised Hollande's tough stance on Iran, and the two said they "regretted" the refusal by Iran's leadership to meet international obligations of transparency around its nuclear program.