Hawkish French FM to Visit Tehran Next Week
PARIS (Dispatches) -- France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Tuesday that he would visit Iran "next week" to discuss resuming normal relations between the two countries after reaching a deal on Iran's nuclear program.
Fabius also said on French radio that talks with Iranian President Hasan Rowhani "were expected", Agence France-Presse reported.
During the nuclear negotiations, Fabius was noted for being particularly hawkish toward any deal with Iran, and France's delegation took one of the most firm stances of any of the six negotiating nations.
Despite the delegation's hard line, France has had a long historical connection with Iran, and is expected to benefit from the reduced sanctions.
"I find it completely normal that after this historic deal was signed, France and Iran should restart normal relations," Fabius said.
French corporations such as automaker Peugot and oil company Total were major participants in Iran until the sanctions adopted in 2011. Fabius, in discussing his visit, also stressed that he was not worried about resuming trade due to the country's firm role during the deal.
"It's true that France was very firm," Fabius said in the same radio broadcast. "Will French firms be penalized? My answer is no because in the past we had an important presence in Iran. Our (expertise) is excellent in a lot of fields and the Iranians are serious. You know in foreign policy, I think you lose nothing in being respected."
Fabius' comments came the same day that U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter was meeting in Occupied Palestine with Zionist PM Benjamin Netanyahu about the Iran nuclear deal. Netanyahu described last Tuesday's deal as a historic mistake.
Fabius’s visit comes after Germany and Iran moved tentatively towards reviving a once close trade relationship.
German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, making the first top level German government visit to Tehran in 13 years, indicated that a ministerial-level meeting of a long dormant German-Iran economic commission would take place early next year in Tehran.
Gabriel traveled with a delegation of German industry representatives, who are keen to move back into the Iranian market, particularly the lucrative energy sector.
German exports to Iran hit 4.4 billion euros in 2005 but then slumped to 1.8 billion by 2013 as the West tightened the sanctions. However, the agreement between Iran and six world powers including Germany has opened the prospect that the sanctions will be removed.
Iran once produced more oil than Saudi Arabia and was able to extract more than 6 million barrels per day in the 1970s, but its output has fallen below 4 million bpd over the past decade due to the sanctions and under-investment.
"There is no country in the world where petrochemicals are so easy to access and so inexpensive," Iran’s Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said. "I hope that German and Iranian firms can find each other."
Keen to consider Iran as an alternative supplier of energy at a time of tensions with Russia, the European Union may reopen an EU delegation in Tehran and is seeking business opportunities in the country.
"The Iran deal has a geopolitical impact and also an economic impact on the European Union," said Austria's Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, who plans to visit Iran in September.
On Monday, Renault said it was weighing moves to introduce a variant of its new Indian-built Kwid mini-crossover to Iran.
The model has already drawn interest from potential Iranian partners, said Gerard Detourbet, the Renault-Nissan alliance vice-president who developed the Kwid's new low-cost architecture.
"This kind of car could be a good match for the (Iranian) market," Detourbet said in an interview.
"We have already presented the car to people, and they are interested," the Renault executive said. "But between the interest and the decision to do it, there is still some time."
Carmakers including Volkswagen are scrambling to rebuild their business in Iran following the country's breakthrough talks.
French rivals Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroen acknowledge they will need to upgrade their outdated offerings to defend the strong market positions they enjoyed before sanctions were tightened in 2011.
Renault, whose Iranian sales of first-generation Logan sedans have dwindled, unveiled the Kwid in India in May based on Detourbet's "CMF-A" vehicle platform. Renault-Nissan eventually aims to exceed 1 million annual sales with several future models based on the new architecture.
Detourbet stressed that no decision had been made on new models for Iran or where they would be assembled, adding that plans would take "more than a month or two" to develop.
During the nuclear negotiations, Fabius was noted for being particularly hawkish toward any deal with Iran, and France's delegation took one of the most firm stances of any of the six negotiating nations.
Despite the delegation's hard line, France has had a long historical connection with Iran, and is expected to benefit from the reduced sanctions.
"I find it completely normal that after this historic deal was signed, France and Iran should restart normal relations," Fabius said.
French corporations such as automaker Peugot and oil company Total were major participants in Iran until the sanctions adopted in 2011. Fabius, in discussing his visit, also stressed that he was not worried about resuming trade due to the country's firm role during the deal.
"It's true that France was very firm," Fabius said in the same radio broadcast. "Will French firms be penalized? My answer is no because in the past we had an important presence in Iran. Our (expertise) is excellent in a lot of fields and the Iranians are serious. You know in foreign policy, I think you lose nothing in being respected."
Fabius' comments came the same day that U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter was meeting in Occupied Palestine with Zionist PM Benjamin Netanyahu about the Iran nuclear deal. Netanyahu described last Tuesday's deal as a historic mistake.
Fabius’s visit comes after Germany and Iran moved tentatively towards reviving a once close trade relationship.
German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, making the first top level German government visit to Tehran in 13 years, indicated that a ministerial-level meeting of a long dormant German-Iran economic commission would take place early next year in Tehran.
Gabriel traveled with a delegation of German industry representatives, who are keen to move back into the Iranian market, particularly the lucrative energy sector.
German exports to Iran hit 4.4 billion euros in 2005 but then slumped to 1.8 billion by 2013 as the West tightened the sanctions. However, the agreement between Iran and six world powers including Germany has opened the prospect that the sanctions will be removed.
Iran once produced more oil than Saudi Arabia and was able to extract more than 6 million barrels per day in the 1970s, but its output has fallen below 4 million bpd over the past decade due to the sanctions and under-investment.
"There is no country in the world where petrochemicals are so easy to access and so inexpensive," Iran’s Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said. "I hope that German and Iranian firms can find each other."
Keen to consider Iran as an alternative supplier of energy at a time of tensions with Russia, the European Union may reopen an EU delegation in Tehran and is seeking business opportunities in the country.
"The Iran deal has a geopolitical impact and also an economic impact on the European Union," said Austria's Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, who plans to visit Iran in September.
On Monday, Renault said it was weighing moves to introduce a variant of its new Indian-built Kwid mini-crossover to Iran.
The model has already drawn interest from potential Iranian partners, said Gerard Detourbet, the Renault-Nissan alliance vice-president who developed the Kwid's new low-cost architecture.
"This kind of car could be a good match for the (Iranian) market," Detourbet said in an interview.
"We have already presented the car to people, and they are interested," the Renault executive said. "But between the interest and the decision to do it, there is still some time."
Carmakers including Volkswagen are scrambling to rebuild their business in Iran following the country's breakthrough talks.
French rivals Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroen acknowledge they will need to upgrade their outdated offerings to defend the strong market positions they enjoyed before sanctions were tightened in 2011.
Renault, whose Iranian sales of first-generation Logan sedans have dwindled, unveiled the Kwid in India in May based on Detourbet's "CMF-A" vehicle platform. Renault-Nissan eventually aims to exceed 1 million annual sales with several future models based on the new architecture.
Detourbet stressed that no decision had been made on new models for Iran or where they would be assembled, adding that plans would take "more than a month or two" to develop.