Francois Nicolau: France's Love for Its Allies Is Not Blind

Less than ten days remain until the deadline for Iran and the P5+1 group to finalize the comprehensive agreement and its annexes. These ten days have seen continued high-level diplomatic activities, and as Abbas Araqchi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, stated last week, final decisions are expected to be made in the foreign ministers' meetings. The meetings will begin on Monday in Luxembourg, where Mohammad Javad Zarif is set to meet with the foreign ministers of Britain, Germany, and France, along with the head of the EU's foreign policy. Mr. Zarif will also have a bilateral meeting with his French counterpart Laurent Fabius, who has previously taken a tough stance on these negotiations. In anticipation of this meeting, Radio Farda spoke with Francois Nicolau, the former French ambassador to Tehran, who has written numerous articles on the nuclear negotiations and their challenges in recent years. Mr. Nicolau served as France's ambassador to Iran from 2001 to 2005. Mr. Nicolau, what is your assessment of France's current position regarding the nuclear negotiations? Laurent Fabius has commented on this issue several times but has used general phrases and called for a 'strong' agreement. Who could oppose such a position? Neither the Iranians nor the Americans. France has long become the 'bad cop' in these negotiations. However, I believe this will not be an obstacle to success in the negotiations. France is not seeking to eliminate the opportunity for an agreement and is looking for the best deal from its perspective. But this is on everyone's mind. It is interesting to note that last week Mr. (Abbas) Akhundi, Iran's Minister of Roads and Urban Development, was in France, and when asked about France's position in the negotiations, he pragmatically replied that this is a negotiation, and each party plays its role, but after successful negotiations, the era will change, and it will be a different world. In my opinion, this meant that after the agreement, the parties will not hold grudges against each other. France is negotiating with Iran as part of the P5+1 group. However, France is also a member of a group that seems to need to negotiate among themselves at times, for example, on the issue of the automatic return of UN Security Council sanctions. What is your opinion on this? You see, for France, the unity of the six countries in these negotiations is very important. I do not think France will disrupt this unity. Therefore, even if discussions among the six countries are sometimes tough, France will not be the country that breaks this group apart. Regarding the automatic return, I must say that I think we should wait and see what happens with this issue. I have some doubts about this mechanism. From one perspective, it can be said that this is an effective mechanism that will reinstate sanctions if Iran violates its commitments, but on the other hand, it can be said that if this mechanism is too effective, it will be very difficult for investors to return to Iran, and in a way, it will hang over investors like a Damocles sword, where with the slightest violation, these sanctions will return, and with such a mechanism, it will be very hard for investors to take risks. Another topic that has been heard more about France's diplomacy during this time is that some say France's approach in these nuclear negotiations with Iran has been set with the interests of its allies, especially the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, in mind. What impact do you think these relations will have at this final stage of the negotiations? Contrary to what this group of observers says, I believe that the Arab monarchies in this region have somewhat accepted, out of expediency, that an agreement be reached with Iran. I think the Camp David meeting of Arab leaders with Barack Obama, the President of the United States, and the official statements supporting an agreement played a useful role. Some may say these are official statements, and the essence of the matter is something else, but official commentary is very important because it is binding. On the other hand, France's closeness to Saudi Arabia or Israel and linking this to Paris's tough approach in negotiations with Iran can perhaps be explained with one example. You see, France is currently leading a plan to resume peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. Fabius is currently traveling in the region to gather support for a 'two-state' solution and advance negotiations within a limited timeframe (which is an important point). This is a position that Mr. Netanyahu does not agree with at all, but we see that Fabius is pursuing it seriously. Therefore, I think this is an interesting positioning and shows that there is no so-called blind love in this matter. Mr. Nicolau, as a final question, how optimistic are you about Iran and the P5+1 reaching an agreement by the 10th of Tir or a little beyond that? Yes, overall, I am optimistic. I think the mechanism for reaching an agreement is appropriate. There are two or three issues that are seen as challenging points; the discussion of the automatic return of sanctions, and the possibility of military inspections and interviews with scientists. However, I believe there is room for compromise, and I am confident in the goodwill of both sides, especially the Iranian and American sides, to reach a solution.