French FM to Visit Next Week

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is slated to pay his first visit to Iran early August. The top French diplomat will arrive in Tehran on August 4 for a two-day trip, during which meetings will be held with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, his counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif and other Iranian officials, IRIB News reported. The visit is aimed at deepening Tehran-Paris exchanges, which entered a new phase after the July 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers came into effect in January 2016. Days afterwards, Rouhani paid a visit to Paris where he signed economic deals estimated to be worth $33 billion. Le Drian was appointed to the post in May 2017, after the centrist presidential candidate Emanuel Macron, a former economy minister, won office on a platform of improving the stagnant French economy. Some analysts believe the victory of the young business-friendly politician will augur well for Iran. The visit is a response to Zarif’s visit to France on July 3 on the third leg of his European tour, which also included Germany and Italy.