MNA – In the following report provided by MNA staff members, a summary of France’s playing with Iran at different stages is discussed with the hope that our Foreign Ministry takes a tougher stance against the European country.


French foreign minister has finally arrived in Tehran

The French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian arrived in Tehran early on Sunday March 5, 2018 and so far, he has met with Iran’s SNSC Secretary Ali Shamkhani and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Jean-Yves Le Drian had postponed his trip to Tehran, which had been planned for January 5, 2018.

The decision for postponing the trip came as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani held a phone conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on January 3, 2018, calling on France to “take its legal responsibility to combat terrorism and violence,” criticizing that a terrorist group, called Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), has a base in Paris, operating against the Iranian people and provoking and persuading people to take violent actions in Iran.

France’s support for terrorist MKO

Mohahedin-e Khalq (MKO) is a terrorist organization in exile that has carried out a lot of brutal attacks against civilian and government officials in Iran killing a large number of them.

The terrorist MKO has been supported by the Western governments since its founding.

The terrorist organization operates freely in France and holds regular conferences in French capital Paris every year in order to recruit many more terrorists.

They were involved in the recent riots in the Iran. On January 5, 2018, Iran’s intelligence ministry said on Friday that a MKO terrorist cell was discovered and dismantled in Boroujerd, Lorestan province, saying they were involved in sabotaging actions during recent protests.

Prior to that on July 2, 2017, Iran’s foreign minister had warned against activities of the MKO in France, saying “giving permission to carry out activities to a group which is loathed by the Iranian people, has a dark history of assassinations, had sided with Saddam regime, and has been making attempts to carry out attacks on the Iranian soil leaves a black stain on the countries that cooperate with such groups.”

Zarif added that the MKO had become an instruments in the hands of Iran’s enemies.

Now with all these in mind, the Iranian policy makers are expected to transfer Iranian people and government’s worries about the terrorist MKO’s activities in France.

France’s playing with the JCPOA

The level of hostility of the current US government towards the nuclear deal with Iran is clear to everyone, but Europeans’ position toward the pact is different. Some of them verbally continue to support the implementation process and want to keep things going. In this regard, Tehran has repeatedly stated that oral support is not enough and the Europeans have to take action against US’s moves in violation of the JCPOA.

Foad Izadi, professor of American studies at the University of Tehran believes that France has taken a hypocritical stance towards the nuclear deal with Iran and wants to relate the JCPOA with Iran’s missile program.

The continuation of making anti-Iran accusations and uncalculated remarks

In the past months, French senior officials including President Emmanuel Macron and Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has uttered baseless claims and accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran. They have explicitly named Iran as a threat to the region and the world and these claims have been of course condemned by statements issued by the Iranian foreign ministry. However, the effectiveness of these claims, considering their frequent expression, can be sized up.

Speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Le Drian criticized Iran for destabilizing measures in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.

“The other condition for building trust is keeping one’s word. The destabilizing actions carried out by Iran in Syria, in Iraq, in Lebanon, in Yemen, or in the Gulf region—whether directly or through the groups it supports—these initiatives cannot be tolerated. And I’m stated this very bluntly. Likewise, for ballistic activities carried out by Iran, which are incompatible with the resolutions of the Security Council. This attitude runs contrary to our interests, and runs contrary to the U.S.’s interests. This attitude is a threat to the security of countries in the region. We certainly share the objective to curb this policy, because he cannot accept interfering and the desire for hegemony that they testify to.”

While visiting UAE and Saudi Arabia, French President Macron repeated in Dubai that he wanted to keep the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, which Trump has challenged.

But he said he was “very concerned” by Iran’s ballistic missile program, mentioning a missile fired from Yemen and intercepted by Saudi Arabia on Saturday, and raised the prospect of possible sanctions with regard to those activities.

“There are extremely strong concerns about Iran. There are negotiations we need to start on Iran’s ballistic missiles,” he said.

“Like what was done in 2015 for the nuclear activities, it’s necessary to put a framework in place for Iran’s ballistic activities and open a process, with sanctions if needed, of negotiation that would enable (that).”

It is worth to mention that in the past months, Mr. Macron shared the same views against Iran in his meetings with US President Trump and Israeli PM Netanyahu.

The French Foreign Minister Le Drian has also made threats against Iran saying that if Iran does not take care about the concerns over its missile program, new sanctions may be levied on Iran.

Of course, it is to be borne in mind that the negative report card of the French in dealing with the Iranian nation is not limited to these remarks in regards with the JCPOA, Iran’s missile program, and defense capabilities.

HIV-Infected Bloods Case

The case of “HIV-Infected Bloods” dates back to approxmately three decades ago and came to being in the course of Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988). However, the case is one of the other unpleasant and unforgettable measures taken by the French authorities against Iranians.

Mérieux Institute, which currently is at the ownership of French Sanofi-Aventis Company, exported HIV-contaminated coagulation factors, for being used by patients suffering from hemophilia, to some countries including West Germany, Italy, Argentine, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran.

In the same direction, exporting HIV-infected bloods claimed lives of many patients suffering from hemophilia.

The necessity of Iran’s Foreign Ministry taking legal action against France’s baseless accusations

With all the above considerations, the widespread accusations made by Paris authorities against Tehran indicate that the approach taken by French authorities after the implementation of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is based on double-standard, bias, an unilateral policy.

In this regard, Naqavi Hosseini Spokesman for Parliament National Security Commission said, “it has already been reiterated that Iran’s defensive power is not negotiable and in my opinion, Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs should take urgent action against the issue seriously.”

“In general, the respected government of the Islamic Republic of Iran should revise its relations with French authorities categorically,” he maintained.

For his part, Ali-Akbar Velayati Senior Advisor to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution in International Affairs pointed to baseless remarks raised by French officials with regard to renegotiating with Iran’s missile power and said, “defensive preparedness is of the initial and inalienable rights of any nation and no country is allowed to interfere in internal affairs of other countries.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghasemi also showed harsh reaction in this respect and said, “the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran will never allow others to undermine its missile power since it is for peaceful purposes.”