Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif expressed his satisfaction with the visit of France’s foreign minister to Tehran after 17 years, noting the long-standing ties between the two countries and expressing hope for further and stronger cooperation.
“With the implementation of the JCPOA, grounds for more economic cooperation in various fields of energy, transportation and auto industry will be made available,” said Zarif, noting that traditional cooperation between Tehran and Paris existed prior to the nuclear deal.
Zarif also announced that a French economic delegation headed by one of France’s cabinet ministers will visit Iran in September.
He further added that the French foreign minister is scheduled to hold talks with a number of Iranian ministers today.
Zarif also mentioned that Iran has started regional cooperation on the fight against terrorism and extremism, saying he was quite pleased to know the French minister held similar position on this matter.
For his part, Laurent Fabius expressed his appreciation for the special efforts made by Ali Akbar Salehi, Head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, in the course of the nuclear negotiations, saying he had played an important role during the negotiations since the technical dimensions of the talks were highly complicated and precise issues.
He stated that France’s position during the nuclear negotiations was ‘hard’ but ‘constructive,’ noting that he needed to maintain such a hard position due to the sensitivity of the issue and also the fact that they were aiming to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.
“Not only did we want to reach an agreement that would benefit Iran, France and the whole region and globe … and an Iran free from sanctions, but also we wanted to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons,” said Fabius.
“The nuclear accord needed to be strong and serious enough so that no other country would ever consider that it could develop a nuclear bomb,” said the French minister.
He further added that the negotiating parties wanted a deal that did not include a lot of ‘bargaining’ and ‘compromising’ so that other countries could not dismiss it and say they did not believe in it.
Fabius also delivered French President François Hollande’s invitation to Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, saying if accepted, the visit will take place this November.
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