Press TV - Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is in Tehran for a two-day visit which is expected to be far from easy after a series of harsh statements made by French leaders about Iran's missile program and its role in the Middle East.
The top French diplomat was greeted by a group of protesters as his flight touched down at Tehran's Mehrabad airport mid-night Sunday.
They carried placards which read "Iran is not Libya", in an apparent reference to France's role in NATO's bombing of the African country and the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi.
Ahead of his visit, Le Drian saidIran needed to address "concerns" over its ballistic missile program or risked new sanctions.
There are ballistic programs of missiles that can reach several thousand kilometers which are not compatible with UNSecurity Council resolutions and exceed the sole need of defending Irans borders, he told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper. If not tackled head-on, this country risks new sanctions, he added.
Le Drian was to hold meetings with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, with Iran's Foreign Ministry expecting "frank" negotiations.
"We certainly have to have absolutely frank talks with the French foreign minister regarding the JCPOA," ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or the 2016 nuclear deal with Iran.
President Donald Trump has set aMay 12 ultimatum forthe Europeans to either change the agreement or the US will withdraw.
In an interview published Monday, Zarif criticized the European Union for pursuing an extremist policy with Tehranin order to keep Washington in the agreement.
"In order to keep the United States in the Iran nuclear deal, European countries are suffering from extremism and this will ultimately undermine Europe's policy," he told Tehran-basedEtemad daily.
Zarif stressed that Iran cannot be pushed around andwarned that "any action to satisfy the party that has most violated the nuclear agreement is useless."
"At present, two groups have violated the nuclear deal: the United States and the Europeans. The Americans because of Washington's policy and the Europeans because of the US policy," he said.
"The Europeans, because of the policy of the US could not meet their commitments, especially in the banking sector. Therefore these two groups are not in a position to set conditions for the country that has fully implemented its commitments," the minister added.
Britain, France and Germany are reportedly working with USofficials to draw up a strategy to "improve" the Iran nuclear deal in return for Trump keeping the pact alive.
Iranian officials have stressed that the country will not brook any change to the deal.Iran's armed forces spokesman said Saturday there could be no talks on the country's missile programwithout the West's destruction of its own nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.
"The condition for negotiations on Iran's missiles is the destruction of America's and Europe's nuclear weapons and long-range missiles," Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri told the official IRNA news agency.
Another outstanding issue is Iran's role in the Middle East and the West's wish to pressure Islamic Republic into stopping its support for the Syrian government.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday asked Rouhani to put pressureon the Syrian government to end its operations against terrorist-heldeastern Ghouta region on Damascus suburbs.
France also expects Iran to make a "constructivecontribution" to solving crises in the Middle East, aFrench presidency statement said.
In their phone conversation, the two presidents agreedto work together in the coming days with the United Nations,Damascus and other countries who are involved to improve thesituation for civilians and make a ceasefire effective, it added.
One key common area between Iran and the Europeans is their determination to keep the nuclear agreement alive.
During his stay, Le Drian is also expected to discuss bilateral ties.
In 2017, FrancewasIran's second biggesttrade partnerin the European Union.According to the French Treasury, Iran's trade exchanges with France stood at 3.8 billion last year.
Since the lifting of sanctions in January 2016, French automakers have piled into Irans resurgent market, helping turn around a period of slipping sales which occurred when they left the country in 2012.
Franc'es oil and gas company Total has signedan agreement worth $4.8 billion forthe development of South Pars Phase 11.
