Iran Unsure What to Expect From Hollande's First Summit
Reports from Tehran indicate animated debates among Iranian diplomats in anticipation of Francois Hollande’s inauguration as France’s president on Tuesday, with some speculating on the material impact his arrival will have on the nuclear summit scheduled to take place next week in Baghdad, writes Shahab Mossavat.
Reports from Tehran indicate animated debates among Iranian diplomats in anticipation of Francois Hollande’s inauguration as France’s president on Tuesday [May 15, 2012], with some speculating on the material impact his arrival will have upon the EU3+3’s nuclear summit with Iran scheduled to take place next week in Baghdad.
One group of analysts in Tehran’s Foreign Ministry with close links to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is relieved to see the back of Sarkozy, whose populist but modern politics were viewed with suspicion. They have been buoyed by the high-profile visit of former French prime minister Michel Rocard, who was received by Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi in Tehran on Saturday. Hossein Ebrahimi, deputy head of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, welcomed the visit, saying, “Although such visits are usual after changes take place in the political system of any country, Rocard’s trip to Iran shows the new French statesmen do not intend to continue Sarkozy’s approach to Iran.”
