French FM to visit Tehran

By Azernews

By Kamila Aliyeva

The French-Iranian relations will be in focus of talks in Tehran, as French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault is expected to visit the Islamic republic.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Bahram Qasemi, said that Ayrault, is scheduled to pay an official visit to Tehran soon, said, IRNA reported. Qasemi did not specify the exact date of the visit.

Qasemi said that the French foreign minister will visit Tehran at the head of an economic delegation.

Noting that Ayrault is also the co-chairman of Iran-French Joint Economic Commission, the spokesperson said that the commission will convene during his visit to Tehran.

Voicing satisfaction over good relations between Iran and France, Qasemi expressed hope that after the necessary negotiations, the two countries can develop common grounds.

The commercial ties between Iran and France have been rising considerably since the nuclear deal went into force in January 2016.  

During the Iranian president’s historic visit to Paris in January 2016, Iran and France signed a series of basic trade deals thought to be worth billions of dollars.

Rouhani and his French peer Francois Hollande oversaw the signing of the deals that concerned cooperation in a range of sectors such as aviation, car manufacturing and oil.

This visit became possible after the lifting of economic sanctions from Iran. Economic and financial sanctions by the US and the EU were lifted on January 16, 2016.

Later, Former French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius paid a visit to Tehran in July 2016  at the invitation of his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif. He held talks with senior Iranian officials, including President Hassan Rouhani, Zarif, Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh and Head of the Department of the Environment, Massoumeh Ebtekar.

It was the first visit by a French foreign minister to the Islamic Republic in 12 years.