France–Iran relations
France |
Iran |
---|---|
Diplomatic mission | |
Embassy of France, Tehran | Embassy of Iran, Paris |
French–Iranian relations are the international relations between
.Recently, however, relations have soured over
Safavid era
In the 16th and 17th centuries, Persia tried to obtain support among European nations against the expansionism of the Portuguese and the neighbouring Ottoman Empire. Since France was tied into an Ottoman alliance, however, the Persian embassy to Europe of 1599–1602 and the Persian embassy to Europe of 1609–1615 avoided France. A Capuchin mission was however established in Ispahan under Pacifique de Provins in 1627.
Trade contacts however existed, and the French trader Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (1605–1689) is known to have been as far as Isfahan circa 1632.
Relations took an official turn under
Another French trader
Numerous trade contacts continued to occur between Persia (modern Iran) and France. In 1705, Louis XIV dispatched an Ambassador Extraordinary in the person of Jean-Baptiste Fabre, accompanied by a party including Jacques Rousseau, uncle of Jean-Jacques Rousseau,[2] and a woman named Marie Petit, who owned a gaming house, probably also a brother, in Paris. Fabre died in Persia, but negotiations were taken over by Pierre-Victor Michel, leading to a largely ineffective signed in September 1708.[3] Prior to that he had to sideline Marie Petit who, "in the name of the Princesses of France", tried to persuade the shah to recognize her as France's sole legitimate representative.[4]
Wishing to reinforce exchanges, the Shah sent an embassy in 1715, led by
Impressed by the Persian visits, the French author
Qajar Era
Attempts to resume contact were made following the
A
Diplomatic relations with France resumed in 1839 following a dispute between Great Britain and Persia over the
Pahlavi Era
France had close economic collaboration with Iran during the Pahlavi era, especially with numerous contracts related to public works.[clarification needed]
Islamic Republic of Iran
Nuclear program
Following the 1979
In 1982, president
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported in February 2023 concerns over undeclared modifications at Iran's Fordow nuclear site, which enriches uranium to 60 percent, a step below weapons grade. This development is inconsistent with Iran's obligations under its Safeguards Agreement and undermines the IAEA’s ability to implement effective safeguards measures.[13]
Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988)
Furthermore, with the United States and other countries, France supported Saddam Hussein in the war against Iran (1980–1988).[citation needed] Saddam's airforce included dozens of Dassault Mirage F1s, Dassault-Breguet Super Étendards, and Aérospatiale Gazelles, among other weaponry. Iraqi military purchases from France totaled $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".[14]
Jacques Chirac 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.[15]
The French were concerned that their support for Iraq would harm their relations with Iran, but their economic and commercial interests in Iraq were too important. The French military reinforced their naval presence in the Gulf in response to Iranian threats of deteriorating relations. France's history with Baghdad reached back decades. France was extremely popular in the Middle East after their public stance of neutrality in the
Paris and Baghdad grew closer and closer. By the end of the 1970s over 65 French companies were operating in Iraq. The Bouygues group had built underground shelters for the Iraqi army. They sold Iraq missiles and other war equipment. Relations with Iran were, on the other hand, primarily limited to cultural exchanges. France recognized the Shah as friendly overall, but condemned the regime's authoritarian streak. Tehran was considered firmly within the American and British sphere and Paris was less interested in Tehran then Baghdad because they could not sell French weapons to Iran. They did develop other commercial ties including for nuclear equipment and in 1974 the French government entered into an agreement to sell Iran nuclear power stations. The Shah gave France a one billion dollar loan for a 10% share in Eurodif allowing Iran to purchase 10% of the enriched uranium produced by the Tricastin plant.[16]
France remained committed to the recognition of the
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
US Senator
All charges were later dropped.[19][20][21]
Other
In 2019, French-Iranian academic
In January 2023,
Economic relations
With 6.25% of the market share in exports to Iran, France was Iran's sixth-leading supplier in 2005.
Diplomatic relations
The most recent bilateral visits of political leaders occurred during the first half of 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 declarations made by the Iranian President promoting the destruction of
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 and thereafter.
The Franco-Iranian relation has cooled off in recent years. Some leaders of MKO were admitted to France and they have actively campaigned against the Islamic regime.[citation needed] Since election of President Ahmadinejad in 2005, the relation has become more contentious. In January 2007, Jacques Chirac warned in an interview that "if Iran were to launch a nuclear weapon against a country like Israel, it would lead to the immediate destruction of Tehran", but he quickly retracted his comments.[29] In 2009 Ahmadinejad's re-election, France supported the opposition candidates, who lost the election. The Iranian movie maker Mohsen Makhmalbaf resided in France during the run-off to the elections in 2009 and was spreading anti-government propaganda and promoting the Green velvet revolution. Also, Iran accused the French embassy for having a role in instigating post election protest via its embassy personnel in Tehran.
In late August 2010, Iran's state-run daily paper Kayhan called France's first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy a 'prostitute' after she had condemned the stoning sentence against Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani for adultery in an open letter, along with several French celebrities.[30] The paper later also called for Bruni to be put to death for supporting Sakineh Ashtiani, and for what the paper described as Bruni's moral corruption and having had extra-marital affairs herself. Even though Kayhan is a state-sponsored paper and it continued its tirade against Bruni along with other state-run Iranian media, Iranian officials tried to distance themselves from that violent stance, while a spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry criticized the comments as being 'unacceptable'.[31] The incident rapidly found its way into the Iranian domestic politics.
On 10 April 2019, Iran's president,
On May 12, 2022, France summoned a senior Iranian envoy after two of its citizens were imprisoned in Tehran in an arbitrary detention, according to the French government.[33]
On July 15, 2022, the French foreign ministry announced that France had requested Iran to free three filmmakers who were detained earlier that month.[34]
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.
- Borrowed words from French, and language similarities due to both being Indo-European languages.
- The promotion of scientific partnerships (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 Iranian culture.
Polls
According to a 2012 BBC World Service poll, only 7% of French people viewed Iran's influence positively, with 82% expressing a negative view.[35] According to a 2012 Pew Global Attitudes Survey, 14% of French people viewed Iran favorably, compared to 86% who viewed it unfavorably; 96% of French people opposed Iranian acquisition of nuclear weapons and 74% approved of "tougher sanctions" on Iran, while 51% supported use of military force to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.[36]
2016
France's imports from Iran in the first nine months of 2016 showed a 34-fold rise compared to the corresponding period in 2015, Iran's state-run Tasnim News Agency reported on 10 December 2016.[37]
Resident diplomatic missions
See also
- Foreign relations of France
- Foreign relations of Iran
- 2011–12 Strait of Hormuz dispute
- Iranians in France
- Iran–EU relations
- Joseph Labrosse (Carmelite)
Notes
- ^ a b Iradj Amini, p.16
- ^ a b Iradj Amini, p.17
- ^ Iradj Amini, p.19
- S2CID 144305226.
- ^ Iradj Amini, p.22
- ^ Iradj Amini, pp.23-24
- ^ Amini, p.6
- ISBN 1598849484
- ^ Napoleon and Persia: Franco-Persian Relations Under the First Empire, by Iradj Amini, Mage Publishers, 1 Jan 1999
- ^ ISBN 9780710302434– via Google Books.
- ^ Dominique Lorentz (11 November 2001). "La république atomique" (in French). Le Monde. Archived from the original on 9 May 2007.
- ^ "Iskandar Safa and the French Hostage Scandal". Middle East Intelligence Bulletin. February 2002. Archived from the original on 14 February 2006.
- ^ "Iran in 2023: Timeline | The Iran Primer". iranprimer.usip.org. 14 December 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
- Washington Times, September 8, 2004.
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ a b c Razoux, P. (2015). The Iran–Iraq War. (n.p.): Harvard University Press.
- ^ "France investigates Iran exiles". BBC News. 22 June 2003.
- ^ Rubin, Elizabeth, New York Times. "The Cult of Rajavi". Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2006.
- ^ Jolly, David (12 May 2011), "France Will Drop Charges Against Iranian Dissidents", The New York Times, archived from the original on 29 June 2021, retrieved 5 January 2019
- ^ France drops case against Iranian dissidents after 11-year probe, Reuters, 17 September 2014, archived from the original on 24 October 2021, retrieved 5 January 2019
- ^ France Drops Case Against Iranian Dissidents, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 17 September 2014, archived from the original on 26 November 2020, retrieved 20 January 2020
- ^ "Iran yet to give evidence against detained French pair: lawyer". Reuters. 28 October 2019. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- ^ "Iran sentences French academic Fariba Adelkhah to five years in prison". France 24. 16 May 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- ^ "Iran says more arrests made in French 'spies' case". Reuters. 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
- ^ Faucon, Dion Nissenbaum and Benoit. "WSJ News Exclusive | French Forces Seize Iranian-Supplied Weapons Bound for Yemen". WSJ. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- ^ "France seizes Iran assault rifles, missiles heading to Yemen". AP NEWS. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- ^ "Payvand". Retrieved 9 August 2023.
- ^ Economy iran-daily.com [dead link]
- ^ Sciolino, Elaine; Bennhold, Katrin (1 February 2007), "Chirac Strays From Assailing a Nuclear Iran", The New York Times
- ^ Black, Ian (31 August 2010). "Iranian media warned after paper calls Carla Bruni-Sarkozy a 'prostitute'". The Guardian.
- ^ "Iranian newspaper says French first lady deserves to die". CNN. 2 September 2010.
- ^ "Rouhani Tells Macron U.S. Move Against Guards 'Very Provocative And Dangerous'". RFE/RL. 10 April 2019.
- ^ "France says two citizens detained in Iran, demands immediate release". Reuters. Reuters. 12 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
- ^ "France urges Tehran to release film makers arrested in Iran". Reuters. Reuters. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
- ^ Opinion of Iran Archived 2019-05-13 at the Wayback Machine BBC
- ^ A Global “No” To a Nuclear-Armed Iran Pew Research Center
- ^ "Tasnim News Agency - France's Import from Iran Skyrockets in 2016". Tasnim News Agency. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
References
- Amini, Iradj (2000). Napoleon and Persia: Franco-Persian relations under the First Empire. Washington, D.C.: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0-934211-58-2.
External links
- Mousavi, Mehdi (2020). "France among the Most-Favored Nations: The French Commercial Policy and Influence in Iran (1815–48)". Iranian Studies. 54 (1–2): 143–167. S2CID 225745689.
- French Foreign Ministry- France & Iran
- Iranian Foreign Ministry
- Persia and Napoleon - A Lecture by Ambassador Iradj Amini
- Farhad Sepahbody - Accounts of French-Iranian relations
- De Gaulle in Iran in 1963, part 1 part 2