France and Iran
Political 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 Kharrazi, 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.
To strengthen our bilateral relations, Iran must respond to our various concerns (proliferation crises, attitude with regard to the Near East, human rights violations, etc.). In order to be able to create the conditions necessary for expanding and improving relations between our two countries, we need to regain trust in terms of nuclear issues.
The successive declarations made by the Iranian President promoting the destruction of Israel and negating the Nazi genocide are unacceptable. They have been strongly condemned by the French President as well as by the Minister. Iran’s ambassador was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 27 October 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 Mr. 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).
In the context of a diplomatic movement concerning some sixty Iranian ambassadors, Iran’s Ambassador in Paris, Mr. Sadegh Kharrazi, ceased to hold office on 22 November 2005. His successor has yet to be named.
Economic relations
With 8.5% of the market share, France is Iran’s third-leading supplier. 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 hydrocarbon sector (buy-back contracts, provision of equipment), 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 our economic cooperation with Iran in the long run.
Cultural, scientific and technical cooperation
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.
The promotion of scientific partnerships (seismology, biology, the environment, 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.
Other types of cooperation
After the catastrophic earthquake hit Bam on 26 December 2003, causing nearly 32,000 deaths, France mobilized its resources. Emergency assistance (5 million euros) was provided immediately. At the same time, many big French companies announced that they were making donations to take part in efforts to rebuild the town and citadel of Bam. This show of generosity led to the establishment of a French-Iranian steering committee for French aid, co-chaired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Iranian Embassy in Paris. Most of the donations collected were allocated to completing the 96-bed Pasteur Hospital, which opened on 23 May 2005 in the presence of the Minister Delegate for Cooperation, Development and Francophony.
France makes a significant bilateral contribution to drug control in Iran (dog cooperation), as in the context of the UNODC.