Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will on Thursday agree a host of commercial deals during a visit to France that offers the clearest demonstration yet of the Islamic Republic’s post-sanctions buying power.
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Peugeot and long-time local ally Iran Khodro will invest 400 million euros over five years upgrading their auto plant near Tehran in what the French carmaker said is the first industrial accord signed by a Western company since sanctions were removed.
Rouhani is in Paris on a historic visit to France organised after a deal was struck with the west over its controversial nuclear programme.
Among the deals announced was the sale of 118 Airbus jets to Iran and an agreement with the French corporation Total to purchase some 200,000 barrels of crude from Iran.
“In 2015, more than 1,000 people were executed in Iran”, said Karim Lahidji, president of the International Federation of Human Rights.
Among other deals announced in the French capital, Aeroports de Paris and Bouygues will assist in the construction of a new terminal at Tehran’s main Imam Khomeiny hub and Vinci signed an outline agreement to run and renovate airports at Mashhad and Ispahan.
The protesters say the regime will only use the new money to promote terrorism and continue its domestic crackdown on freedom.
“We don’t see any obstacles for companies who would want to come and invest in Iran”, Rouhani told a French business delegation.
Iran is in the process of buying 114 Airbus jets, and Iran Air expects to receive the first set of aircraft from the French aviation giant before March 21.
While those sanctions were lifted earlier this month, Iran’s latest ballistic missile tests prompted new US sanctions.
At the time, Iran was Peugeot’s second-largest market after France.
“This gives a lot of pain to us Christians who have remained … seeing our brothers, who are ready to forget everything for reasons of humanitarian interests, or opportunism”, he said during a talk in Rome about the persecution of Christians in the Middle East.
“Iran’s needs are enormous”, Gattaz told reporters.
Shame on Francois Hollande.
This “hanging” was carried out on the Paris pedestrian bridge by a group of feminist activists called Femen in order to criticize Iran’s policy regarding death penalties.
Under the Peugeot deal, it will produce 200,000 vehicles a year in Iran from 2017, in partnership with Iranian manufacturer Khodro.
Referring to the global summit on environment in France, he added: “Iran will accompany France and other countries of the world in this summit and we are eager to cooperate in this field”.
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On Thursday, Rouhani will meet with executives of Confindustria French before visiting the Élysée Palace, where he will be received by French President François Hollande. Iran, with about 80 million people, has a young and well-educated population, and its middle class is among the most vibrant – and product-hungry – in the region.
