29-03-2024 04:43 PM Jerusalem Timing

Hollande: Fabius Visit to Tehran Will be ’Key Test’

Hollande: Fabius Visit to Tehran Will be ’Key Test’

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius’s upcoming visit to Tehran will be a key test for Iran after the conclusion of a landmark deal over its nuclear program, President Francois Hollande said Monday.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius's upcoming visit to Tehran will be a key test for Iran after the conclusion of a landmark deal over its nuclear program, President Francois Hollande said Monday.

Fabius is to travel to the Islamic republic on Wednesday over the deal which requires Iran to curb its nuclear capabilities in return for the lifting of crippling sanctions.

French President Froncois Hoolande"The way he (Fabius) will be received is, for us, a test of Iran's behavior," Hollande told reporters.

He was making an apparent reference to attacks by hardliners in Iran against France, which was seen as the most hawkish of the global powers negotiating the deal with Tehran.

Hollande also said Iran should play a role in promoting peace and stability in the Middle East, saying: "We expect president (Hassan) Rouhani to now prove that Iran can help to address the grave crises in the region, particularly Syria."

Iran and the P5+1 countries – the US, Britain, France, China and Russia plus Germany – succeeded in finalizing the text of an agreement, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in the Austrian capital Vienna on July 14 after 18 days of intense talks over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Under the JCPOA, limits will be put on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for, among other things, the removal of all economic and financial bans against the Islamic Republic.

Fabius's trip will be hot on the heels of a similar visit from German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who was the first top Western official to visit the country since world powers and Tehran struck a nuclear deal after years of negotiations.