• National

    Paris Urged to Adopt Proactive Stance

    A group of French figures called on Paris to try to take the initiative in international talks with Iran on its nuclear program.

    In a statement published by Le Monde, 20 political, social and cultural French figures urged the French government to "take the initiative in the nuclear talks between Iran and the major powers and abandon passive diplomacy ahead of the November 24 deadline (for a final nuclear agreement)," IRNA reported on Saturday.   

    A former French foreign minister, a former French ambassador to Iran and a former president of the Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) are among the figures who signed the statement.

    The statement says in part, "Iran and France have enjoyed a historical friendship, but the two countries have drifted apart on some issues over the past years. France has become a serious opponent of Iran after the US."

    Referring to the Iranians' will to improve their country's economic situation, as mirrored in the 2013 presidential election which led to the election of a moderate, pragmatic president, the statement read, "The increasing influence of Iran in the region has turned the country into a key player in the campaign against the Islamic State terrorist group in Iraq and Syria; their clout is so significant that without Tehran's positive and active cooperation, the Iraq conference held in Paris in September did not yield much results."

    The group criticized the current role of France in the nuclear talks, saying if France is now keen to restore its political and economic relations with Iran, making efforts to help find solutions to Tehran's nuclear dispute is much more inevitable than ever before.

    They stated, "France, which has been pushed to the margins by the Iran-US bilateral talks, should abandon its passive position today."

    In addition, they appealed to the government to do all in its power to help tackle Iran's nuclear crisis.