The Latest Rouhani says nuke deal could be pattern for peace

The visit follows a deal between Iran and the west on the middle-eastern country’s nuclear program that resulted in the lifting earlier this month of trade sanctions.

That comes after President Barack Obama and Western leaders gave Iran a nuclear deal that dropped sanctions against the Islamic regime.

“France is available for Iran“, said French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who added that additional deals in other fields were also expected.

Hollande also described terrorism as a comprehensive threat and said: “Terrorism is not just our enemy, rather it invades all other nations without any exceptions and we believe that Iran and France cooperation can be beneficial to global peace and fight against terrorism”. On the sidelines of a fruitful meeting of the two presidents, Iran and France signed memorandums of understanding.

A lunch between the French and Iranian presidents in Paris was scrapped today because France refused to remove wine from the menu. “Welcome Rouhani, executioner of freedom”, said a banner painted in red, hung from a footbridge over the Seine.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Paris on Thursday as part of a European trip to drum up business deals.

The United States had imposed new sanctions over the firing of a medium-range Iranian ballistic missile shortly before the reported French request. At the same time, under a separate arrangement, the United States freed or cleared 21 Iranians in USA sanctions-related cases, while Iran released five American prisoners, including Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian.

French energy company Total said it signed a framework agreement to purchase crude oil from Iran during the Iranian president’s trade visit to Paris.

The contract whose value stands at €400 million envisages the investment by Peugeot in modernizing platforms, particularly in the main Iran Khodro site near Tehran.

“Iranians need everything. The country is not starting from scratch, it’s got a very educated workforce, a real development potential”, he said. PSA Peugeot Citroen announced a joint venture with Iran Khodro to produce latest-generation vehicles in Tehran by the end of 2017.

“We organized this public display as a little reminder of the fact that every year, more than 800 people are sentenced to death in his country”, Femen France’s spokesperson Sarah Constantin told reporters.

Iran Air has agreed to update its aging fleet by purchasing 118 passenger planes from European aircraft maker Airbus, in a deal worth an estimated $25 billion.

Banks also remain wary so soon after the lifting of sanctions, senior French bankers have said.

French President Francois Hollande shakes hands with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Jan. 28, 2016.

Iranian economic doors to Europe have opened in the wake of the declaration that it had met the terms of a multilateral nuclear agreement brokered in July.