Fabius defines Tehran visit as ‘respect, renewal’

The French foreign minister made the remarks when answering questions in a joint press conference with Head of Iran’s Department of Environment Masoumeh Ebtekar in Tehran on Wednesday.

“If I want to sum up my visit [to Tehran] in two words, those would be ‘respect’ and ‘renewal’; a mutual respect that French people feel toward Iranian culture and people and the respect that I presume Iranians feel toward the culture and people of France,” said Fabius; “and also ‘renewal’ of relations in all areas of economy, culture, environment and politics.”

Elsewhere, he highlighted that Iran and France could boost cooperation in various fields relating to environment, while noting that France would be hosting the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) from November 30 to December 11.

Fabius added that for this occasion, he has extended an invitation to Ebtekar to visit Paris and discuss ways for adapting their countries with the Earth’s rising temperature.

COP21, which invites ministers of 50 countries, will be a crucial conference, as it needs to achieve a new international agreement on climate, applicable to all countries, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°C.

Masoumeh Ebtekar, for her part, said that in her meeting with the French foreign minister, the two sides had discussed bilateral cooperation in the field of green technology, especially water-related technology, as well as climate change.

While referring to COP21 conference, the Iranian official said that the participants will try to “reach a new agreement on climate change and also continue negotiations with countries that produce the largest quantities of greenhouse gases in order to reduce gas emission.”

The French foreign minister arrived in Tehran for a day-long visit on Wednesday morning. During his stay in Tehran he has met with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif as well as Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh and Ebtekar.