Hope for development of ties between Iran, France: Rocard
IRNA – Visiting Former French Prime Minister Michel Rocard said on Monday there is a hope for development of relations between Iran and France.
1391/02/26 - 07:06
He made the remarks in an exclusive interview with IRNA.
Rocard called his visit to Tehran as positive, adding that Tehran and Paris once had friendly relations during the past four centuries.
Visiting former French prime minister noted that although the relations between the two countries have faced lots of ups and downs but there is a hope for development of relations.
Speaking about Baghdad Iran-G 5+1 nuclear talks on May 23, he underlined that G5+1 and Iran should make trust and understanding and abandon the past contradictions.
“There were positive signals from Istanbul nuclear talks and there is a hope for a desired outcome in the upcoming Baghdad talks.”
Rocard, in a televised interview broadcast live on Iranian television late on Sunday, stated that the 5+1 group will try to adopt a common stance toward the meeting.
Commenting on differences of opinion between France and the United States, he said that Paris was opposed to the US decision to invade Iraq in 2003.
“We should remain loyal to the international community so that… negotiations in Baghdad would yield good results,” Rocard said.
Iranian officials have reiterated that they are hopeful to see encouraging results in the upcoming meeting in Baghdad.
However, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili, who is Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, said on Sunday that any miscalculation by the West will prevent the negotiations from being successful.
“In Baghdad, we will wait for a measure that will win the confidence of the Iranian nation,” Jalili stated.
The Iranian official also advised Western officials to avoid making “unconstructive” comments and false allegations against the Islamic Republic.
Former French Prime Minister added that the Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution’s fatwa (religious edict) on banning nuclear arms will help promote confidence about Iran’s nuclear activities.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, issued a fatwa on April 17, 2010 declaring that the production, stockpiling, and use of nuclear weapons are all haram (prohibited in Islam).
Commenting on the next round of talks between Tehran and the 5+1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) which is scheduled to be held in Baghdad on May 23, Rocard said that the planned meeting in Baghdad is a great opportunity for all countries to know what they want.
Iran and the 5+1 group held a new round of talks in Istanbul on April 14, breaking a 15-month hiatus in talks, and agreed to meet again in Baghdad on May 23.
Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.
Despite the rules enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions for turning down West's calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment.
Tehran has dismissed the West's demands as politically tainted and illogical, stressing those sanctions and pressures merely consolidate Iranians’ national resolve to continue the path.