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Car-making deals, protests greet Iranian president in Paris Car-making deals, protests greet Iranian president in Paris
(about 4 hours later)
PARIS — France welcomed Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday with a long-term car-making agreement and pledges to boost trade now that a diplomatic deal is easing nuclear tensions. PARIS — 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.
Yet clouds hung over the historic outreach trip. France has asked its European Union partners to consider new sanctions on Iran for its recent ballistic missile tests, officials have told The Associated Press. That highlights continued suspicions between Iran and the West despite the recent agreement curbing Iran’s nuclear program that prompted the lifting of earlier sanctions. Rouhani, whose visit was also met with protests, decried the sanctions, saying history has shown that they “never worked” and said the nuclear deal that led to the lifting of sanctions this month can serve as a model for solutions in other crises, notably in the Middle East.
Rouhani arrived in Paris on Wednesday from Rome, where billions of euros’ worth of trade deals were reached, and was formally greeted Thursday morning at the gold-domed Invalides monument that houses Napoleon’s tomb. “Today, we must use the positive atmosphere for a new elan,” he told a group of French business leaders.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the countries should forget past rancor. “France is available for Iran,” he said. “Iran can count on France.” About 20 agreements will be signed after a meeting between Rouhani and President Francois Hollande. PSA Peugeot Citroen announced a joint venture with Iran Khodro to produce latest-generation vehicles in Tehran by the end of 2017.
Rouhani’s visit was also met with protests, notably over executions in Iran. A nearly naked woman hung from a fake noose off a Paris bridge Thursday next to a huge banner reading “Welcome Rouhani, Executioner of Freedom.” France rolled out military honors at the site of Napoleon’s tomb for the Iranian leader at the start of his second and final day in France in an otherwise low-key visit.
But the thrust of the trip was about improving economic and diplomatic relations after years of isolation for his country of 80 million people. The historic outreach trip faced some strains in a reminder of the complexities confronting all sides despite the French welcome mat.
Rouhani said his country is “favorable terrain” for resumed trade between East and West, as he and Valls pledged to turn the page on past tensions. France has asked its European Union partners to consider new sanctions on Iran for its recent ballistic missile tests, officials have told The Associated Press. That highlights continued suspicions between Iran and the West despite the recent agreement curbing Iran’s nuclear program and the lifting of earlier sanctions.
Rouhani, speaking to French executives, urged efforts to unblock financing for resumed trade now that sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program have been lifted. Continued U.S. bank restrictions against Iran are a hurdle to many European companies seeking renewed commerce. EU foreign affairs spokeswoman Catherine Ray told reporters in Brussels on Thursday that “such a request was never submitted to the EU and it was not discussed” at the latest EU foreign ministers meeting. However, such diplomatic proposals are normally broached first on an informal level among EU partners, and then go through a bureaucratic process before being formally tabled at EU-wide meetings.
France’s Peugeot-Citroen announced a joint venture with automaker Iran Khodro to make 200,000 cars a year outside Tehran. Carlos Tavares, chairman of the PSA Peugeot-Citroen managing board, said it will be a 50-50 joint venture, aiming to produce three new models of cars starting late next year. 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.
“We must go beyond those wounds” caused by sanctions, Tavares said. Peugeot was a major player in Iran’s car market before the sanctions were imposed. An activist hung from a fake noose off a Paris bridge next to a huge banner reading “Welcome Rouhani, Executioner of Freedom.”
France’s state rail company SNCF also announced a deal, and other French companies were expected to follow later Thursday, when Rouhani and President Francois Hollande oversee the signing of about 20 bilateral agreements. France see the visit also as an opportunity to draw Iran into a role of crisis-solving, notably in Syria’s civil war where Iran actively supports the government of President Bashar Assad, which Paris firmly opposes.
Air France is resuming Tehran flights in April, and an Iranian state newspaper said other European airlines are planning the same. At the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), Rouhani said the means used to resolve the nuclear conflict can serve as an example for resolving conflicts.
The EU and the U.S. lifted sanctions on Tehran on Jan. 16 in exchange for U.N. certification that Iran had scaled back its nuclear programs. Iran maintained those programs were peaceful but critics feared it wanted to build nuclear weapons. But Iran’s latest ballistic missile tests prompted new U.S. sanctions. “We (everyone) can lower our pretensions,” as each side did in the nuclear talks, he said. “This allowed us to reach accords.”
While France has asked EU partners about possible new sanctions over those tests, too, the French government is also hoping to draw in Iran’s help in peacemaking in its region, notably in Syria and Yemen, and easing tensions with regional rival Saudi Arabia. “Each side must feel it is a win-win agreement,” he added, without clarifying who he was referring to.
Rouhani said the protracted, complex — but ultimately successful — nuclear negotiations could serve as an example for solving multiple crises in the Middle East. He also took digs at the West, notably regarding the migrant crisis.
Rouhani, in a speech to French think tank IFRI, said that for such diplomacy to work, both sides must “lower our pretensions.” “Europeans with all their economic power and resources were saying ‘100,000 migrants have arrived to our soil, what do we do now? 200,000 have swarmed (our borders) what do we do now?’”
Speaking through a translator, he said “that allowed us to reach accords” on curbing Iran’s nuclear program and lifting sanctions. “Each side must feel it is a win-win agreement.” Iran, he said, is hosting 3 million Afghans “without complaining.”
France, which has deep ties with Arab countries and has sought to improve ties with Israel, is conducting a balancing act in the region. Last week, Foreigh Minister Laurent Fabius visited Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia, Iran’s fierce rival, and Paris will shortly welcome the Saudi crown prince. Rouhani arrived in Paris on Wednesday from Italy, where billions of euros’ worth of trade deals were reached.
Rouhani also met Pope Francis on the first such Iranian foray into Europe since 1999. Rouhani was originally scheduled to visit Paris in November, but the trip was called off after Nov. 13 Islamic extremist attacks that killed 130 people. Rouhani, who first traveled to Italy, was on a mission to improve Iran’s battered economy after years of isolation for his country of 80 million people. It was the first trip to either country by an Iranian leader since 1999.
Rouhani said his country is “favorable terrain” for resumed trade between East and West.
“We must go beyond those wounds” caused by sanctions, Peugeot Chairman Carlos Tavares said at a news conference. He said that Iran carries risks, but “the biggest risk for us is the status quo.”
Rouhani’s trip was originally scheduled to visit Paris in November, but the trip was called off after Islamic extremists carried out attacks around Paris that killed 130 people.
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Angela Charlton in Paris, Danica Kirka in London, Raf Casert in Brussels and George Jahn in Vienna contributed to this report.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.