By Hanif Ghaffari

Macron should be responsive

December 13, 2017 - 8:45

TEHRAN _ The French President "Emanuel Macron" once again called for "completion of the JCPOA" by negotiating the missile power of the Islamic Republic of Iran in his latest interview with the French 24 network. He also stated that negotiations over Iran's missile program, shouldn't make any changes in the content of the nuclear deal! Besides, in another part of his remarks, the French President announced of Saudi Arabia's commitment not to support terrorist groups! Of course this part of his speech was not attended that much by the media.

According to the French president, Saudi crown prince, "Mohamed bin Salman" has promised him to stop donations to the terrorists! Macron announced this in response to a question on why is Paris supporting Riyadh (arms support and ...). There are some points regarding the recent remarks by Macron that can't be easily overtaken:

First, there was a kind of controversial cooperation against the Islamic Republic of Iran in the meeting between the U.S. and French presidents in New York in September of 2017, and on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. Accordingly, Macron committed to play the role of the "bad police" in dealing with the missile program of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and to become the main agent in exerting pressure on Tehran to hold missile talks. Thus, the joint French-American plot against Iran, after the meeting between Macron and Trump in New York, entered a new phase. This process continues to this day. Based on what the sources report, Macron has promised Trump to eliminate the legal obstacles on the way of possible interference of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran's missile activities. 

However, Macron's statements indicate that he himself has not been able to clearly distinguish between Iran's missile capability and the JCPOA. On the one hand, the French president stresses the unchangeable nature of the nuclear deal and, on the other hand, mentions that an agreement without restraining Iran's missile capability is useless. Macron, on the one hand, knows very well that he can't attach the subject of imposing missile restrictions on Iran in the form of an "amendment" to the content of the nuclear deal, since in that case his words regarding the "unchangeable nature" of the JCPOA aren't anymore valid.

 On the other hand, the incapable President of France, like the President of the United States, is well aware of the thorough opposition of the Islamic Republic of Iran and our Supreme Leader to any negotiations on the missile defense capabilities of our country. Under such circumstances, it is impossible to hold missile talks with Iran in the form of "a separate dialogue" that's apart from the JCPOA. Therefore, Macron, while knowing what he wants, couldn't and still can't find a reasonable mechanism to achieve his goal.

The second point is the French President's comments on the Riyadh and the terrorist approach of the Saudi regime. In March of this year, "Francois Hollande", the former French President, issued a license for arms sales to Saudi Arabia worth 455 million Euros. Emmanuel Macron continued the process after attending the Elysees Palace, which led to an exponential increase in the record of arms sales to Saudi Arabia by this country. With the disclosure of Saudis' crimes against the Yemeni people and the increasing opposition of France and Europe public opinion to Western-backed sales of weapons to Riyadh, Macron has uncovered Mohammed bin Salman's commitment to not supporting terrorist groups! In other words, Macron has virtually acknowledged that he was aware of the direct and indirect support of terrorist groups by Riyadh. Undoubtedly, this confession by the French President, in addition to being a political scandal, should be of legal consequences for him and the French government. Only the recent statements by Macron is enough to prove that the French authorities are indifferent to terrorism in the West Asian region. On this basis, France continued to export arms to the Saudi regime, although it knew that Riyadh supported the terrorist groups in the region.

The third point is about the approach taken by our country's diplomacy and foreign policy apparatus towards France and its young president. Unfortunately, our country's diplomacy system continues to look at France and Immanuel Macron as a "mediator" between Tehran and Washington. This is while Paris plays a complementary role for the United States in missile, nuclear, and regional confrontation with Iran. The main question is why has our country's diplomacy simply ignored the September's meeting between Macron and Trump in New York, and has since maintained its positive approach towards the French government? Now this process has reached a point where French analysts refer to Macron's visit to Iran as an important political trip to warn our country for the last time over our missile activities!

It's now time for the Iranian diplomacy system to change this equation. Undoubtedly welcoming those politicians who are calling for limiting Iran's missile program and the regional delimitation of our country isn't acceptable. Despite his political blunders, the young French president is looking at his next year visit to Iran as an opportunity to "threaten Iran directly" and prove his loyalty to Trump. In such a situation, the Islamic Republic of Iran should also use this visit as an opportunity for bringing serious accusations against the President of France for playing on the White House ground. There is now little opportunity left to change this equation and to take a powerful approach (based on national interests) in confronting the French government. However, there is still no sign of reforming this approach among the foreign policy officials of our country.