France's Schizophrenic Iran Policy
As Paris freezes assets of Iranians involved in bomb plot, the Macron
government is working to circumvent renewed American sanctions on Tehran
By CHARLES BYBELEZER/THE MEDIA LINE
The French government appeared to contradict its own policy this week by
freezing the assets of an Iranian ministry and two individuals
connected to a foiled terrorist attack on a June meeting of a dissident
group near Paris. Austria-based Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi was
among those arrested for plotting to bomb the event, which,
parenthetically, was attended by Trump administration lawyer Rudy
Giuliani. The scheme reportedly was masterminded by Saeid Hashemi
Moghadam, Iran's director general of intelligence.
"[Actions of] such extreme seriousness on French territory could not be
let go without a response," a joint statement issued by France's foreign
affairs, interior and economic ministries read in part. “[We have]
taken preventive, proportionate and targeted measures…[to] reiterate
[our] determination to fight terrorism."Notably, the announcement
coincided with a massive police operation targeting a Shiite Muslim
"club" named the Centre Zahra France, whose leaders are accused of
having ties to Tehran's Lebanese proxy Hizbullah as well as to Iranian
sleeper cells in the country.Thereafter, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le
Drian suggested that the developments "confirm the need for a tough
approach in our relations with Iran."
Except that France's decision to sanction Iranian officials—including
Assadi, who is set to be extradited to Belgium for prosecution—was made
one week after Paris signed off on the creation of a "special purpose
vehicle" geared towards circumventing renewed American financial
penalties on the Iranian regime. Indeed, the government of President
Emmanuel Macron committed to "assist and reassure economic operators
pursuing legitimate business with Iran," possibly by setting up a
mechanism to barter European goods for Iranian oil.
This, in turn, came just hours after a meeting on the sidelines of the
United Nations General Assembly between Le Drian and his Iranian
counterpart Mohammed Javad Zarif, during which Tehran's direct
involvement in the bomb plot was discussed in detail. The two diplomats
previously met—in, of all places, Vienna—only days after Assadi was
arrested as part of an ongoing effort to salvage the 2015 nuclear
agreement. For good measure, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was
welcomed in Austria earlier that same week after the news of the
unsuccessful attack had already surfaced.
France's Jekyll-and-Hyde game seemingly reinforces the contention of
opponents of the atomic pact that the de-coupling of the nuclear issue
from Iran's other "nefarious" behaviors was bound to embolden the
Islamic Republic. While this boomerang effect is only beginning to be
felt more broadly in Europe—including as a result of Tehran's role in
creating the migration crisis through its military activities in
Syria—the Revolutionary Guard Corps and its allies have over the past
three years accelerated their march across the Middle East, leaving a
wake of death and destruction."The French authorities are blind to
reality and for years all governments—Left and Right—have been lax in
tackling the growing threat of Muslim fundamentalism," Christian Malard,
a Paris-based political analyst who interviewed former Iranian
revolutionary leader Ruhollah Khomenei multiple times, opined to The
Media Line. "Now, the Iranian regime is playing off the rift between the
US and Europe and if the goal is to topple the Ayatollahs then the gaps
have to be bridged. This is not the case presently and could lead to a
catastrophe.
"There is an incoherence in the French government's way of dealing with
Iran," he continued, "as the foreign minister is declaring that there
needs to be a re-evaluation of the [bi-lateral] relationship but
[concurrently] shields Tehran from US sanctions."
Avi Pazner, a former Israeli ambassador to Paris, likewise sees elements
of hypocrisy in France's position, which "is very lenient when it comes
to the nuclear agreement and its economic ramifications even though the
government knows exactly what it is dealing with: a state that sponsors
terrorism.
"In this respect, [Macron] is not ready to make any concessions as
France has been hit hard [by attacks]. But [he] needs to explain how it
makes sense to continue doing business with Iran when this obviously
helps a terrorist regime. Israel always [pleads with] the Europeans to
not allow Iran to use their money to conduct terror. Apparently,
economic considerations are more important than moral ones."
How ironic, then, if reports are true that Israel's Mossad spy agency
provided invaluable intelligence to European security services about the
Iranian plan, and then spearheaded the manhunt across the continent to
thwart the plot.
On the flip side, supporters of France's Iran policy note that the
country was, initially, the party most skeptical of the atomic deal and
in certain instances pushed the Obama administration to strengthen the
language of its formulation. More recently, President Macron expressed a
willingness to address Iran's ballistic missile program and regional
adventurism, albeit within an undefined context.
There is thus some common ground with President Donald Trump, although few believe that Paris will fall in line with Washington.
As such, perhaps the most probable scenario was encapsulated by an
anonymous French source who told the Reuters news agency that, "We hope
this matter [of terrorism] is now over. We have taken measures and said
what we needed to say."
The problem is that while France looks willing to forgive and forget, Iran may yet want the last word.
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