France acts as guardian in Iran-P5+1 N-talks: French MP

A senior French parliamentarian says the United States is willing to see a final deal be quickly clinched between Iran and the P5+1 group over Tehran’s nuclear program.

“The Americans, for several reasons, seem eager to reach an agreement rather quickly,” the head of the French Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, Elisabeth Guigou, told the US-based media website Al-Monitor on Sunday.

“It is the same for [Iranian] President [Hassan] Rouhani whose objective is also political: the lifting of the sanctions,” she claimed.

The French lawmaker further said that her country acts as a “guardian” in the nuclear talks between Iran and the six world powers.

“In this context, I foresee that in the next round [of talks] France will continue to play its role of guardian given the serious nature of a likely agreement,” between the two sides, she added.

Guigou further expressed hope that Iran and the P5+1 group – the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany – would reach a final agreement over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear issue.

The French official said that a possible comprehensive deal with Tehran would have a positive impact on French-European relations with Iran.

 “…As soon as the nuclear agreement is reached, we anticipate that our contacts will be more positive, and they might be more productive,” she said.

“Securing a good nuclear deal would allow this great country, which inherited from an ancient and prestigious civilization, to contribute to peace and stability in the region and at a global scale,” said Guigou.

Iran and the P5+1 have been holding talks to secure a final comprehensive deal over Tehran's nuclear work.

Since an interim deal was agreed in the Swiss city of Geneva in November 2013, the negotiating sides have missed two self-imposed deadlines to ink a final agreement.

Iran and the P5+1 countries now seek to reach a high-level political agreement by March 1 and to confirm the full technical details of the accord by July 1.