Paris: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will on Thursday sign a host of commercial deals during a visit to France that offers the clearest demonstration yet of the Islamic Republic’s post-sanctions buying power.
Rouhani was formally welcomed to Paris by Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius with military honours and national anthems, for the first visit to France by an Iranian president for 17 years.
It is the second leg of a trip signalling Tehran’s rapprochement with Europe following the lifting of the punishing sanctions imposed over its nuclear programme.
The real business of the trip will come when Rouhani officially signals Iran’s intention to buy 114 passenger planes from European aircraft maker Airbus.
Iranian state television reported on Airbus will deliver 100 passengers planes to the Islamic republic within four years.
“The contract with the Airbus has been finalised ... the planes will be delivered to Iran as soon as possible within four years ... Tehran will pay for the planes in 10 years ... all the planes will be new ones,” state TV said.
Airbus Chief Executive Fabrice Bregier said on Wednesday that he had held talks this month in Tehran with government and Iran Air officials that could lead to the rapid sale of aircraft in the coming months.
Rouhani was also expected to ink a deal paving the way for the return of French carmaker Peugeot to Iran, in partnership with Iranian manufacturer Khodro, according to a French government source.
Peugeot will produce 200,000 vehicles a year in Iran, beginning in 2017. It pulled out of the country in 2012 as sanctions began to bite.
After arriving from Italy, where he sealed deals for steel and pipelines worth between €15 and €17 billion euros (Dh67.89 billion), Rouhani began his Paris visit on Wednesday by meeting top French business leaders.
Iran’s state-owned newspaper, meanwhile, reported that several European airlines will resume their flights to Iran after nearly five years.
The Thursday report in Iran daily quoted Mohammad Khodakarami, deputy head of Iran’s civil aviation authority, as saying British Airways officials visited Tehran on Tuesday to discuss resumption of flights. He did not elaborate.
Khodakarami also said both Air France and Dutch flagship KLM have already announced their readiness to resume flights to Iran.
European carriers stopped their flights to Iran after the West imposed sanctions on Iran over its nuclear ambitions.
Currently Iran’s national carrier, Iran Air has three weekly flights to London as well as two weekly flights each to Paris and Amsterdam. In Paris, France’s economy minister Emmanuel Macron said Rouhani had unveiled a new government scheme to guarantee investment by French firms in Iran.
A source involved in the deal to buy Airbus planes said at this stage, only letters of intention will be signed because some sanctions are still in place.
However, Iran is said to be keen to bring its fleet of mid- and long-haul aircraft up to date, so the deal is widely expected to go ahead soon, giving a huge boost to the European aviation industry at a time of global economic downturn.
In another potential bonanza, French oil giant Total is said to be interested in buying Iranian crude.
The visit will also touch on Iran’s role in Syria. Delicate talks are due to begin in Geneva to take the first tentative steps towards ending a conflict that has killed 260,000 people.
Rouhani’s meeting with Hollande is also expected to touch on Iran’s bitter feud with Saudi Arabia.
At a press conference rounding off his Rome visit, Rouhani was defiant when asked whether Iran would apologise to Saudi Arabia for an attack on its embassy by demonstrators furious over Riyadh’s execution of a prominent Shiite cleric, Nimr Al Nimr.
The Paris visit was originally scheduled to take place after the November 13 attacks on Paris, but was postponed.
The Iranian opposition is expected to hold a human rights demonstration in the French capital to coincide with Rouhani’s visit.
