France and Iran line up range of deals

Rouhani said his visit hailed the beginning of a “new relationship” between France and Iran, suggesting the two “forget the resentment” that had coalesced while Iran was shut out of global trade.

Iran had made a similar request to Italy also, which was accepted and the Italians ensured a halal menu without wine.

Under the terms of the contract, Airbus will be committed to deliver the aircraft, acquired by Iran under the lease, within four years.

France’s Peugeot carmaker signed a deal with Iran’s Khodro to modernize its plant and once again begin producing Peugeot vehicles in the previously sanctioned country. Oil and gas company Total inked a deal with the National Iranian Oil Company to purchase crude oil.

President Hassan Rouhani was accompanied on his official visit to Paris, the first by an Iranian president since 1999, by ministers and business leaders who announced deals including a joint venture between carmakers PSA Peugeot Citroen and Iran Khodro and plans for Iran to buy 118 Airbus passenger planes to update its aging fleet.

The outreach trip follows the agreement curbing Iran’s nuclear program that prompted the lifting of earlier sanctions.

The Syrian people must be left to decide their own future, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday, adding that defeating terrorism was Syria’s main problem and not who is running the country.

“Investing in Iran is not exactly like investing in Holland or Denmark”, a French diplomatic source said.

At the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), Rouhani took digs at the West, notably regarding the migrant crisis. Rouhani says his first visit to Europe since…

Rouhani arrived in Paris on Wednesday from Rome, where billions of euros worth of trade deals were reached, and was formally greeted to France on Thursday morning at the gold-domed Invalides monument where Napoleon is buried.

The French President, for his part, highlighted that the post- nuclear agreement condition has turned a new page in Tehran-Paris relations, as well as for the Islamic Republic’s relations with the worldwide community as a whole.

Human Rights Watch criticised Iran on the death penalty and abuse of rights of women and minorities. Continued U.S. bank restrictions against Iran are a hurdle to many European countries seeking renewed commerce.

“Welcome Rouhani, executioner of freedom”, read a banner on the Paris bridge from which a Femen activist was suspended in a mock noose. “Iran can count on France”.

On Thursday afternoon, Rouhani and French President Francois Hollande presided the signing of 20 bilateral agreements by ministers from the two countries.

Mr Rouhani said the spirit of compromise shown by both sides in the nuclear negotiations – which two weeks ago resulted in the lifting of sanctions – could be a model for resolving conflicts in the Middle East.