Appointment of French ambassador in Tehran still ‘frozen’

For almost three months now, there has been no French ambassador in Tehran. This has fueled tension in relations between France and Iran, despite that the post is highly considered to be decisive.

Paris is keen to keep Iran in the July 2015 deal, which is monitoring its nuclear program, even with the U.S. withdrawal from the deal and Washington's reinstatement of economic sanctions over Tehran.

Since the departure of François Sénémaud, who was officially named France’s Ambassador to Iran and Emmanuel Macron’s representative in Syria, and the post has been empty.

The post has been frozen since the foiled plot in June to bomb a weekend rally by an exiled Iranian opposition group in France, called the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran.

The apparent attack  was meant to have targeted a meeting of thousands of Iranian opposition supporters just north of Paris that was also attended by leading U.S. figures.

“We are cooperating to clarify what happened during the event in VillepinteI,” a source close to the French head of state said. “We would not say that there is a direct link between the two events, but Tehran has promised us objective elements that will allow us to continue our diplomatic relations as they exist today.”

In a related context, the Belgian police arrested an Iranian couple in June as they were busted carrying a small quantity of explosives. An Iranian diplomat was arrested in Germany along with two suspects.

France’s Foreign Ministry in August told its diplomats and officials to postpone non-essential travel to Iran indefinitely, according to Reuters.

This, however, did not stop Macron from continuing high level dialogue with Iran. The French source affirms, “Our aim is to keep Tehran in the nuclear agreement, therefore, the Iranian President must be convinced that this is for the sake of his country’s interest.”

The French president is expected to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouahni on Sept. 25 in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

This is also considered to be an opportunity to seek a solution regarding the issue of appointing a French ambassador in Tehran.