French President Francois Hollande has invited his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani to visit France in November, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Wednesday.
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If taken up, the trip would be Rouhani’s first to France as president.
During his day-long visit to Iran, the top French diplomat is also expected to sit down with Iranian Minister of Industry, Trade and Mines Mohammad-Reza Nematzadeh as well as the head of Iran’s Department of the Environment, Masoumeh Ebtekar.
The French FM also mentioned his so called “tough position” in nuclear negotiations, saying that the reason was that Iran’s nuclear is not a unimportant issue, as France supports peaceful nuclear developments, not the creation of a nuclear bomb.
“From now we hope to deepen our relations in all areas”, said Zarif.
Some Iranian hardliners want to block French business deals because of France’s close relationship with Gulf Arab governments that are locked in a regional power struggle with Tehran as well as its stance during the nuclear negotiations.
Zarif said in a televised news conference, “We began good discussions to reach regional cooperation in the fight against terrorism and extremism”.
Upon arrival in Tehran, Fabius said that an economic delegation of French big companies will visit Iran in September.
France used to have a strong presence in Iran before the sanctions went into effect, with Peugeot and Renault being major players in the Iranian auto industry and energy giant Total in the oil sector. Fabius is also under fire for his role in the export of HIV-contaminated blood products to a number of countries, including Iran, in the 1980s, when he was in office as France’s prime minister.
Images on social media showed protests against Fabius at Tehran’s Mehrabad airport, and flyers depicting a bloody red carpet and the pledge: “We will not forgive or forget”.
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“I have a letter from the president of my country Francois Hollande in which he is inviting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to visit France in November”, Fabius said, as quoted by the ISNA news agency.
