President Rouhani: We cannot decide on Syrian people; Iran-France coop. to deepen in economy, science, culture

Presidents of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of France told reporters in a press conference after 20 cooperation agreements being inked that the move indicates Tehran and Paris serious resolve to have common cooperation.

In this press conference which was held late on Thursday, President Rouhani described his negotiations with President Hollande and the heads of major French companies as fruitful and favourable and said: “Cooperation between Iran and France is not merely economic and both countries will deepen their scientific and cultural ties which go back to more than 100 years”.

Referring to the global summit on environment in France, he added: “Iran will accompany France and other countries of the world in this summit and we are eager to cooperate in this field”.

He said: “Iran will be committed to all his promises in JCPOA and its appendices until the other side does so”.

“Iran and France believe that all efforts for maintaining stability and full security of Lebanon should be made and Tehran will cooperate with France to fulfil this aim” continued Rouhani.

On issues related to Syria, President Rouhani also said that everybody should help the Syrian people to decide for their future.

He also talked about the issues that Iraq is facing and said that unity and integrity is essential in the country and that everybody should help the Iraqi people to drive terrorists out of their country.

He added: “Stability in the region is very important to the Islamic Republic of Iran and we prefer diplomacy for solving tensions in the region”.

“Human rights is important to Iran and we favour equal rights for all people, whether they are immigrants or citizens” Rouhani added.

He also described the main issue of Syria as terrorism and those who buy oil from ISIS, provide them with weaponry and politically support them.

“All countries should pay attention to human rights issues; western countries thinking that they are flawless in this field is wrong” Rouhani said.

In this press conference, President Hollande expressed satisfaction over President Rouhani’s trip to France and said: “Cementing Tehran-Paris ties can be beneficial to both nations, the region, and the world”.

Stressing that Paris is determined to revitalise its relations with Iran, Hollande said: “During Dr Rouhani’s trip, good agreements were made between the two governments and the private sectors of both countries and France is committed to putting all of them into action”.

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”.

“Iran and France can have decisive roles in crises around the region and it is necessary that they stand by each other to establish stability and security in the region” continued French president.

Saying that Iran and France are two great countries, he said: “Iran and France have deep cultural commonalities and therefore they can have close and extensive cooperation with each other”.



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