Meeting with former French Senator and Minister of Defence Jean-Pierre Chevènement, Ali Akbar Velayati pointed to the existing possibility for improving relations between Iran and France and asserted that, “Iran and France nations are optimistic towards each other and Iranians have a positive view of France.”
“France was hosting Imam Khomeini before the Islamic Revolution and France’s liberal views have remained in the memories of our people,” said Velayati adding that, “today we will observe the good outcomes of negotiations between the two countries’ officials.”
Velayati further noted that, “we remember that the viewpoints of General de Gaulle, François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac have always been based on the national interests of France."
“Today, after the nuclear talks, we are waiting for the authorities to approve the agreement in which case the relations between Iran and the West will expand,” underlined Velayati.
The Iranian official further asserted that, “Iran and France both respect the territorial integrity of the regional countries and believe that the crisis in the region has political rather than military resolution.”
Jean-Pierre Chevènement, for his part, stated that the nuclear agreement will provide France with the opportunity to collaborate positively adding that, “President Rouhani will visit Paris in November and tomorrow, a large French economic delegation led by two ministers will travel to Tehran."
“We have always had a good attitude towards Iran,” said the French official, adding that, “however, for the past 30 years, bilateral relations have been strained which need to get improved.”
“There is a sense of independence in the French foreign policy towards the US even though we admire the works of Obama and Kerry with regard to the issue of nuclear agreement,” he added.
Chevènement further stated that, “France possesses a certain policy towards Arab countries which of course is not against Iran and we must find the commonalities of these policies which are in favor of peace in the region as well as in the interest of France.”
He added that France is not looking for war, yet we need to think thoroughly about the issues in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and North Africa before taking any action.
Chevènement praised the wisdom of Iran’s Leader and Obama on the issue of nuclear deal asserting that, “the agreement is in line with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)."
He concluded “The agreement will allow the two sides to deal with all sorts of problems; Iran and France can cooperate positively for peace in the world as well as the region.”
HA/2918939
Your Comment