French President Francois Hollande said on Monday Iran is a “partner” in international efforts to promote peace and stability in the region, noting that a comprehensive nuclear agreement between Iran and the major powers could help end the conflicts in Iraq and Syria.
Speaking in a two-hour interview on the France Inter radio, Hollande said Iran could be a partner to help improve stability in Syria and Iraq, “That’s why it would be better a (nuclear) agreement is reached,” Fars News Agency reported.
The French leader, however, underlined that he “will not bargain (with Iran to restore) peace in Iraq and Syria, as it would be a bad compromise.”
Iran and the six major powers failed to meet a second self-imposed deadline in November to reach a comprehensive settlement to the long-running dispute over Tehran’s nuclear work and decided to extend the negotiations on a final deal for seven more months until the end of next June.
Hollande also said Paris is “totally firm” on ensuring that Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon capability.
“As long as Iran fails to clearly demonstrate that it is not seeking to develop nuclear weapons, there will be no agreement on the part of France,” he noted. Western powers have accused Tehran of pursuing the capability to develop nuclear weapons.
Iran denies its nuclear program may have any military objectives, saying the work is solely for peaceful applications, such electricity generation. Holland added, “It is not yet clear that Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) could reach a comprehensive nuclear agreement.”
