Le Drian's visit, an opportunity to cement Tehran, Paris ties

Le Drian’s Monday visit can mark a starting point for the two countries to patch up some of their differences and enhance their cooperation with each other.

Eventually, after many changes in the date of Le Drian’s visit to Iran, the French foreign minister entered Tehran on March 5, 2018.

Le Drian’s trip to Iran, his first to the country as the foreign minister of France, was made after the ground was prepared to that end. This visit can prepare the ground for French President Emmanuel Macron to travel to Iran.

Following the signing of the nuclear deal – also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – in July 2015, the level of relations between Tehran and Paris improved significantly. In the post-sanctions era, the two countries were witness to frequent high-level official exchanges between Tehran and Paris.

During late June-early July 2017, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif traveled to Paris for talks with France’s top officials, including Macron, his counterpart and Gérard Larcher, the president of the European country’s Senate. In his meetings over the course of the visit, Zarif discussed the important issues of mutual interest such as the necessity of maintaining sustainable relations between the two states.

As could be inferred from remarks by French officials prior to Le Drian’s visit, his talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani and Zarif focused on three important issue: (1) The implementation of the JCPOA; (2) Regional issues; and (3) Iran’s missile defense program and power.

Regarding the missile defense program, Iran has repeatedly and explicitly announced its stance. The same stance was adopted by top Iranian officials toward the issue in their meetings with Le Drian.

In the post-JCPOA era, Tehran and Paris signed a number of major and profitable agreements in various fields, among which were those between Iran and Peugeot, Airbus and Total S.A.

Undoubtedly, Le Drian’s visit to Tehran will result in an increase in the pace of the implementation of these previously signed agreements.

Over the past few months, Paris has tended to approve of policies adopted by Donald Trump in some fields. A witness to this was the approval voiced by the Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations Francois Delattre for the UK’s resolution against Yemen, which also convicted Iran. This resolution, however, was vetoed by Russia.

Shortly prior to Le Drian’s visit to Iran, Macron held a phone conversation with Rouhani making a number of requests from his Iranian counterpart concerning the Syrian issue and Eastern Ghouta. Macron’s remarks showed that France’s attitude toward West Asia is explicitly different from that of Iran, which, due to its proximity to the locations of the ongoing regional crises, has more knowledge of the problems of the region.

No one has failed to notice the great importance Iran attaches to possessing advanced missile defense capability. This was the reason why the P5+1 negotiators decided not to raise the issue during the nuclear talks between Iran and the six world powers.

At present, France and a number of other Western countries are accusing Iran of violating Resolution 2231, which calls upon Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.

This comes as Iran’s ballistic missile program is defense-oriented and a deterrent and, more importantly, as repeatedly announced by the country’s top officials, not designed to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads. In the turbulent Middle East, where every country seeks to equip itself with the most modern weapons, it is an undeniable necessity for Iran to strengthen its defense system to ensure the security of the country.

Iran expects a country such as France, which has gained maximum benefits from expanding cooperation with Iran in the post-JCPOA era and predicts a bright future in its ties with Tehran, not to be deceived by the White House’s plot to merge the nuclear issue with that pertaining to Iran’s missile defense activities.

Source: Iran Daily (This article was first published by IRNA in Persian)

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