Rouhani’s visit to France was the first by an Iranian president since 1999. Companies are anxious about the sanctions snapping back if Iran violated the terms of the nuclear agreement and are including this scenario in their risk analysis. The Elysee Palace suggested the heads of state share breakfast instead but this was rejected as “too cheap”.
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PARIS (AP) – France’s government welcomed Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday with promises of a new beginning in an old relationship, starting with investments to boost Iran’s flagging economy crippled by decades of sanctions over its nuclear activities.
In Italy, companies including steel and industrial firms signed a total of about $18 billion in deals with Iran during Rouhani’s visit. Iranian officials did not request the statues be covered up but were said to appreciate the gesture.
Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran, with headquarters outside Paris, held a demonstration, and 61 lawmakers signed an open letter to Hollande, condemning Iran’s human rights record, with executions on the rise, and what it called its “strategy of chaos” in the Middle East.
In another bonanza for France, oil giant Total agreed to take between 150,000 and 200,000 barrels of Iranian crude a day.
In statements from Paris, the president said there were few obstacles to establishing strong economic links with France.
Marceline Loridan-Ivens, a Holocaust survivor, and Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, the Europe director of the American Jewish Committee, also lamented the timing of the visit, calling it “laughable” in an Op-Ed they coauthored and that Atlantico.fr, a centrist news and analysis site, published Tuesday.
“It’s true that Iran has returned to the worldwide community, but it doesn’t mean we agree on everything, especially on Syria”, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said ahead of Rouhani’s arrival.
Criticizing the French President for receiving Rouhani as an official guest, Constantin further added “It shows that Francois Hollande doesn’t care about human rights”.
“That was when we started to hear the sound of the revolution which started in France and spread around the world”, Rouhani said.
Under the deal announced on Thursday, but whose final signature will not be made until the middle of this year, Peugeot and Tehran-based Iran Khodro plan to modernize a factory near Tehran and be producing cars by mid 2017.
Iran’s industry minister Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh said an agreement between French export-credit group Coface (COFA.PA) and the Iranian central bank signed this week was an important step in the right direction.
Iran is likely to need hundreds of new aircraft in the coming years as it re-establishes commercial air travel previously restricted by the sanctions. Peugeot was a major player in Iran’s auto market before the sanctions were imposed.
Rouhani, speaking to French executives, urged efforts to unblock financing for resumed trade now that sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program have been lifted. There are still almost 1 million Afghan refugees in Iran today.
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The Paris visit was originally scheduled to take place after the November 13 jihadist attacks on Paris, but was postponed.
