France–Iran relations

Iran, previously known as Persia until 1935 has generally enjoyed a friendly relationship with France since the Middle Ages. The travels of Jean-Baptiste Tavernier are particularly well known to Safavid Persia.

Recently however, relations have soured over Iran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment and France supporting the referral of Iran to the United Nations Security Council. French MPs and President Sarkozy have also stated that if all sanctioning efforts fail, war with Iran is the only answer to Iran's nuclear program.

History

Qajar Era

Pahlavi Era

Islamic Republic of Iran

Nuclear program

Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, France refused to continue to provide Iran in enriched uranium, which it needed for its nuclear program. Tehran did not get either its investment back from the Eurodif joint stock company formed in 1973 by France, Belgium, Spain and Sweden . In 1975 Sweden’s 10% share in Eurodif went to Iran as a result of an arrangement between France and Iran. The French government subsidiary company Cogéma and Tehran established the Sofidif ("Société Franco–iranienne pour l’enrichissement de l’uranium par diffusion gazeuse") firm with 60% and 40% shares, respectively. In turn, Sofidif acquired a 25% share in EURODIF, which gave Iran its 10% share of Eurodif. Reza Shah Pahlavi lent 1 billion dollars (and another 180 million dollars in 1977) for the construction of the Eurodif factory, to have the right of buying 10% of the production of the site.

In 1982, president François Mitterrand, who had been elected the year before, refused to give any uranium to Iran, which also claimed the $1 billion debt. In 1986, Eurodif manager Georges Besse was assassinated; the act was allegedly claimed by left-wing militants from Action Directe. However, they denied any responsibility during their trial. [fr icon cite news|title=Jean-Louis Bruguière, un juge d’exception|publisher=Voltaire Network|date=April 29, 2004|url=http://www.voltairenet.org/article13591.html] In their investigation "La République atomique, France-Iran le pacte nucléaire", David Carr-Brown and Dominique Lorentz pointed to the Iranian intelligence services' responsibility. They also claimed that the French hostage scandal was connected to the Iranian blackmail. Finally an agreement was found in 1991: France refunded more than 1.6 billion dollars. Iran remained shareholder of Eurodif via Sofidif, a Franco-Iranian consortium shareholder to 25% of Eurodif. However, Iran abstained itself from asking for the produced uranium. [fr icon cite web|title=La république atomique|publisher=Le Monde|date=November 11, 2001|author=Dominique Lorentz|url=http://www.politiqueglobale.org/article.php3?id_article=1967] [cite news |title=Iskandar Safa and the French Hostage Scandal|publisher=Middle East Intelligence Bulletin |date=February 2002|url=http://www.meib.org/articles/0202_l2.htm]

Iran–Iraq War (1980-1988)

Furthermore, as the United States and other countries, France supported Saddam Hussein in the war against Iran (1980-1988). Saddam's airforce consisted of dozens of Mirage F1s, Dassault Super Etendards, and Aérospatiale Gazelles, among other weaponry. Iraqi military purchases from France totalled $5.5 Billion in 1985, prompting U.S. Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, and chairman of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, to declare France's selling of military equipment to Iraq as "international treason". ["French connection armed Saddam."By Bill Gertz. The Washington Times, September 8, 2004.]

In fact it was Jacques Chirac who helped sell Saddam the two nuclear reactors that started Baghdad on the path to nuclear weapons capability. By 2000, France had become Iraq's largest supplier of military and dual-use equipment, according to a senior member of Congress who reportedly declined to be identified. ["Ibid."]

2003 raid on the People's Mujahedin of Iran

In June 2003 French police raided the People's Mujahedin (PMOI)'s properties, including its base in Auvers-sur-Oise, under the orders of anti-terrorist magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguière, after suspicions that it was trying to shift its base of operations there. 160 suspected MEK members were then arrested, 40 went into a hunger strike to protest against the repression, and ten immolated themselves in various European capitals in protestation against the raids. French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy (UMP) declared that the MEK "recently wanted to make France its support base, notably after the intervention in Iraq," while Pierre de Bousquet de Florian, head of the DST, France's domestic intelligence service, claimed that the group was "transforming its Val d'Oise centre [near Paris] ... into an international terrorist base". [cite news |title=France investigates Iran exiles |publisher=BBC News|date=June 22, 2003|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3010422.stm]

US Senator Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas and chairman of the Foreign Relations subcommittee on South Asia, then accused the French of doing "the Iranian government's dirty work". Along with other MPs, he wrote a letter of protest to President Jacques Chirac, while longtime OMPI supporters such as Sheila Jackson-Lee, Democrat of Texas, criticized Maryam Radjavi's arrestcite web|url=http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/sloth/2003-07-15.html|title=The Cult of Rajavi|first=New York Times|last=Rubin, Elizabeth|accessdate=2006-04-21 en icon] .

However, the MEK members were quickly released, in the French action against the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) have been accused of being parts of negotiation between Paris and Tehran, concerning the nuclear program and maybe also some business deals. The MEK claims that after three years, there is nothing in the files that would implicate the NCRI and Mrs. Rajavi in any wrong doing and the case has essentially died.

As of 2007, the PMOI have received support from many members of the political and judicial classes, from different backgrounds.

Economic relations

With 6.25% of the market share in exports to Iran, France was Iran’s sixth-leading supplier in 2005. [http://www.payvand.com/news/06/may/1046.html] Iran is France’s 27th customer (its third-leading customer in the Middle East). Fifty-five percent of French exports are concentrated in the automotive sector. French companies are also very active in the oil industry, rail and shipping transport, and the financial sector. For the most part, imports from Iran are crude oil. Altogether, 3% of French hydrocarbon imports come from Iran. A reciprocal agreement protecting and encouraging investment signed by the French Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade on 12 May 2003 in Tehran came into force on 13 November 2004. Iran’s Minister of Commerce, Mr. Mohammad Shariat-Madari, made an official visit to France from 20 through 23 January 2004. The French Secretary of State for Transport and the Sea, Mr. François Goulard, went to Iran on 20 June 2004, on the occasion of the resumption of Air France’s Paris-Tehran flights. The nuclear issue will determine any changes in the business climate in Iran. France and its European partners have emphasized to Iran the promising prospects that would result from a negotiated solution. However, the present worsening of the nuclear crisis could damage France's economic cooperation with Iran in the long run.

Diplomatic relations

The most recent bilateral visits of political leaders occurred during the first half of 2005:
*The French President and the Minister received the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Hojatoleslam Hassan Rohani, on 24 February 2005.
*President Khatami met with the French President in Paris on 5 April 2005, on the sidelines of a conference at UNESCO, where he gave an address on the dialogue between civilizations. The Minister received his Iranian counterpart, Mr. Kamal Kharazi, who was accompanying the Iranian President.
*Mr. Xavier Darcos, the Minister Delegate for Cooperation, Development and Francophony, went to Tehran and Bam on 22-23 May 2005.

The alleged declarations made by the Iranian President promoting the destruction of Israel and negating the Nazi genocide have been strongly condemned by the French President. Iran’s ambassador was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 27 October 2005 regarding this matter. The French government has expressed its concerns to the Iranian government about the human rights situation in Iran. On 12 December 2005, the Prime Minister awarded the French Human Rights Prize to the wife of Emadeddin Baqi, an Iranian dissident who fights for prisoners’ rights and against the death penalty in Iran. In the context of its policy supporting defenders of human rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Iranian chargé d'affaires to Paris in August 2005 to express its concerns regarding the fate of journalist, Akbar Gandji, and his lawyer, Mr. Soltani (who was awarded the French Human Rights Prize in December 2003 on behalf of the Human Rights Defence Centre, of which Ms. Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, is the President).

Iran’s Ambassador in Paris, Mr. Sadegh Kharazi, ceased to hold office on 22 November 2005. His successor Ali Ahani is currently the new Ambassador under President Ahmadinejad.

Cultural, scientific and technical relations

Cooperation relations are managed in the context of the general arrangement of 14 September 1993 and the cultural arrangement of 31 January 1999. Four priorities have been established:
*The promotion of inter-university partnerships and advanced French training. France is the sixth-leading country in terms of hosting Iranian scholars. Actions supporting university cooperation conducted by the embassy in Tehran (welcoming and guiding students, improving language skills, providing networking opportunities with former scholars) are to be grouped together in a centre for university information and exchange.
*Increased French instruction in Iran’s secondary and higher education. Several public secondary schools in Iran offered French classes in Autumn 2003.
*Many borrowed words from French, and language similarities.
*The promotion of scientific partnerships (seismology, biology, environmental sciences, town planning, human and social sciences, veterinary medicine) in compliance with the rules of vigilance and with Iranian co-financing. A two-year integrated action programme (called “Gundishapur”) ended in July 2004.
*Bidirectional development in cultural dialogue. The embassy provides volunteer translation and publication services and organizes cultural and scientific events. The French Research Institute in Iran is the only foreign research centre authorized to take part in disseminating information about Persian and Iranian culture.

References

See also

* Foreign relations of Iran
* Foreign relations of France

External links

* [http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/country-files_156/iran_301/france-and-iran_2788/index.html French Foreign Ministry- France & Iran]
* [http://www.mfa.gov.ir/output/INDEX.HTM Iranian Foreign Ministry]
* [http://users.sedona.net/~sepa/napiran.html Persia and Napoleon - A Lecture by Ambassador Iradj Amini]
* [http://www.iranian.com/FarhadSepahbody/2003/May/France/index.html Farhad Sepahbody - Accounts of French-Iranian relations]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Usqb88OhgY&mode=related&search= De Gaulle in Iran in 1963, part 1] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSmAxKd27ks&mode=related&search= part 2]