Iran Talks: France Anxious About Competition With the Other Five By Jaya Ramachan ran !

I"#$In"epth #e%sAnalysis B&R'I# ! T&(RA# )I"#* $ France is concerne about its eclinin+ in,luence in the -i le &ast an ,ears economic competition ,rom the ./0/1 Britain an 2ermany i, relations bet%een Tehran an the West are normali3e ,or the ,irst time since the 4565 Iranian revolution/ This1 accor in+ to a senior Iranian analyst1 is the reason French Forei+n -inister 'aurent Fabius appeare to a opt a tou+h stance in Iran7s talks %ith the 89:4 ; the .# 0ecurity Council7s permanent members1 the ./0/1 Britain1 France1 Russia1 China alon+ %ith 2ermany ; on #ovember 5$4< in 2eneva/ Ab olre3a Fara=i$Ra 1 .niversity 8ro,essor o, 2eopolitics an International Analyst1 sai in an intervie% %ith the Iranian "iplomacy )IR"*: >The French politicians are concerne that the ,orei+n ministers o, Iran an the .nite 0tates may en+a+e in bilateral talks throu+h %hich the t%o countries %oul achieve certain a+reements %hich %ill boost the in,luence o, the .nite 0tates on Iran?s economy in the ,irst place/ This %ill restrict the maneuverin+ room ,or the French companies1 in +eneral1 %hile re ucin+ the in,luence o, the &uropean countries on the Islamic Republic1 in particular/@ Fara=i$Ra sai in the intervie% translate an publishe by the Iran Revie% on #ovember 44: >'ookin+ back to history o, Iran$2ermany relations1 %e %ill see that 2ermans have +enerally ha ,e%er problems %ith Iran/ Also1 ,ollo%in+ the victory o, the Islamic Revolution in Iran1 Tehran an Berlin have maintaine a suitable level o, economic cooperation/ On the other si e1 2ermany is an ally to the .nite 0tates %hile France an the .nite 0tates are strate+ic rivals/ O, course1 un er the rule o, Athe ,ormer French presi entB -r/ 0arko3y1 the cooperation bet%een France an the .nite 0tates %as more positive/ (o%ever1 at other =unctures1 8aris an Washin+ton have been strate+ic rivals/@ Another reason ,or the opposition o, France to a nuclear a+reement %ith Iran is about France7s sphere o, in,luence1 sai Fara=i$Ra / >"ue to their colonial past1 the French s%ay hi+h in,luence over the 'evant re+ion ; %hich consists o, the present$ ay 0yria an 'ebanon/ (o%ever1 the increasin+ in,luence o, Iran in both 'ebanon an 0yria has been to the etriment o, France/@ Accor in+ to Fara=i$Ra 1 i, Iran mana+e to strike a success,ul eal %ith the 89:41 the natural conseCuence %oul be a tan+ible increase in Iran?s re+ional clout/ >This means that Iran %ill be playin+ a more in,luential role %ith re+ar to the situation in IraC an 0yria/ Tehran %ill even become more active in A,+hanistan as %ell as certain parts o, the 8ersian 2ul,1 inclu in+ in Bahrain/ 8erhaps1 the French +overnment is not very sensitive about the situation in IraC an A,+hanistan1 but they are very concerne about the 'evant re+ion )comprisin+ Cyprus1 'ebanon1 0yria1 the 8alestinian territories1 Jor an1 Israel1 an part o, southern Turkey1 the Aleppo Dilayet*/@ With Iran playin+ the role o, a re+ional po%er an the West con,irmin+ that Iran is an important re+ional player1 Fara=i$Ra sai 1 France %ill have less maneuverin+ room in the re+ion/ >In the meantime1 France %ill be ,acin+ ,ierce economic rivalry in the re+ion ,rom Iranian competitors/ As a result o, such a competition1 France %ill not have the %i e economic space it alrea y ha in the re+ion throu+h presence o, such ma=or French companies as Athe oil +iantB Total an the automaker1 8eu+eot/@ In that case1 the Iranian analyst sai 1 priority %ill be +iven to the ./0/ companies %hich can export better +oo s to the re+ion1 ,ollo%e by their 2erman1 Italian an British counterparts/ >Those countries %ere previously ,ace limitations ,or exportin+ their +oo s to Iran1 but French companies i not have to eal %ith such limitations/ There,ore1 the French o,,icials

are concerne both in economic an +eopolitical terms because they see that their po%er an in,luence in the -i le &ast1 in +eneral1 an the 'evant1 in particular1 is on ecline/@ 8recisely ,or this reason1 >they consi er Iran as a strate+ic rival in that re+ion an 1 to be realistic1 they have alrea y lost their +roun both in 0yria an 'ebanon1 to Iran1@ Fara=i$Ra %ent on to say/ >This is %hy the French politicians %ant Iran nuclear issue as %ell as the current i,,erences bet%een Iran an the West to remain unresolve / In this %ay1 they aim to ,urther %eaken Iran ; by takin+ more points ,rom the Islamic Republic ; in or er to make up ,or +reat a vanta+es that they have alrea y lost in the re+ion an reclaim1 at least1 part o, their past sphere o, in,luence/@ Israeli lobbies influence Aske %hether France7s e,,ort to +ain more a vanta+es is in,luence by the Israeli lobbies1 Fara=i$Ra averre : >This is exactly true/ / / Althou+h the French politicians apparently o not repeat )Israeli 8rime -inister* #etanyahu7s remarks1 there is a certain level o, coor ination behin the scenes bet%een the Israelis an the French/ I even believe that such coor ination exists bet%een the French o,,icials an the ra ical politicians in the .nite 0tates/@ (e a e : >The ./0/ a ministration ; consi ere separate ,rom the 0enate an the Con+ress ; actually seeks an a+reement %ith Iran/ They believe that stability shoul be restore to the -i le &ast because1 other%ise1 the re+ional interests o, the .nite 0tates %ill be at stake/ The ./0/ a ministration is o, the opinion that its allies in the re+ion have not been success,ul in ,ul,ilin+ their uties/ >An example %as the atmosphere create ,or Turkey the .nite 0tates a,ter Islamic movements starte to s%eep throu+h the re+ion/ The situation in 0yria an the ,ailure o, 0au i Arabia an Eatar Ain topplin+ the +overnment o, 0yrian 8resi ent Bashar Assa B %as another example/ >On the other han 1 Washin+ton believes that althou+h Iran %as alone in the re+ion1 it has been success,ul in meetin+ its interests to a lar+e extent/ There,ore1 Iran is a re+ional po%er an they shoul learn to +et alon+ %ith it/ On the contrary1 there are certain ,actions in the ./0/ Con+ress an the 0enate1 in a ition to pro$Israeli lobbies1 %hich believe that Iran is still a ma=or threat to the ./0/ interests an shoul be han le accor in+ly/ >The minimum they seek is to make Iran +ive up its uranium enrichment activities1 %hich %ill both appease Israel1 an put their o%n min s at ease/ In the meantime1 France has been %orkin+ %ith these t%o +roups/ I mean1 a sin+le ,ront has been ,orme by France1 the .F1 an the ra ical ,actions in the .nite 0tates/ O, course1 at certain =unctures1 the British +overnment has been runnin+ this sho%/@ AI"#$In"epth#e%s ; #ovember 4G1 G<4HB G<4H I"#$In"epth#e%s ! Analysis That -atters 8hoto: 89:4 an Iran talks ! Ima+e: 8ress TD Rea also: http:II%%%/ir iplomacy/irIenIpa+eI45GJ49JII:Tolerate :"omestic:8ressures:0o:That:#e+ otiations:Woul :0uccee /html http:II%%%/ir iplomacy/irIenIpa+eI45GJGKJI#uclear:Issue:Will:#ot:Resolve:All:"i,,erence s/html 0en your comment ! 0ubscribe to I"# ne%sletter Follo% us on T%itter an Facebook: http:IIt%itter/comIIn"epth#e%s http:II%%%/,acebook/comII"#/2oin+"eeper