Is Germany Uninterested in Expanding Political Relations with Iran?

-This is a question which is posed by those who are not knowledgeable enough about the European Union; because during the course of the nuclear negotiations, France created numerous obstacles.

-Everybody remembers the behavior of the French Foreign Minister at the most critical moment of negotiations which delayed the negotiations.

-As an experienced diplomat in European affairs, I believe that countries make different decisions and choose different paths. The issue of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 was critical for the world and all countries were involved.

-The trust that was achieved at the end of negotiations did not exist in the beginning, meaning that we did not trust them and they did not trust us either; that is why the discussions sometimes created tensions in the public opinion.

-The nuclear issue had become a critical issue in our relations with the world, thus, the best option should have been chosen, but this option created a conflict of interest and sometimes created crises in negotiations.

-But two issues caused the resolution of this crisis; one was that, at the highest level, Iran had decided to resolve this matter and second, the fact that the US was also determined to resolve the nuclear issue within a diplomatic framework.

-France was faced with two big problems; one was that, contrary to the previous round of negotiations which were held between Iran and three European countries in which France and Germany were considered as the focus of negotiations and were presented to the international community, this time it was the US which led negotiations and other countries were not considered to be as important as the US.

-It means that it was Iran and the US which led the negotiations, thus, France was concerned that it would not be able to have the necessary political gains from these negotiations in Europe, the Middle East and the world.

-The other problem for France was that it was concerned about its economic situation after negotiations. The reason was that, before negotiations, Iran had numerous problems with France and, during the course of negotiations, France had created obstacles in the path of its resolution and it was assumed that, following the resolution of the nuclear issue, relations between Iran and France would be faced with new challenges.

-Fortunately, after the resolution of the nuclear crisis, France changed its approach and gave signals that it was interested in expanding its relations with Iran. These signals were well received by our diplomats and Iran also showed positive signs.

-Therefore, when the agreement was signed in the summer and even before the implementation of this agreement, the French Foreign Minister made a visit to Iran and the French stated that they were interested in expanding their relations with Iran. When Fabius came to Iran, he was warmly welcomed and there was this assumption that the period of cold relations between the two countries had ended.

-In Europe, France cannot be ignored. In other words, a country cannot have relations with Europe but cut its relations with France.

-France is a big country which was previously a great power in the world. It is a country which ranks second or third in the European economy and the ten big economic countries of the world, thus, it cannot be ignored.

-Basically, in foreign policy no country should be ignored even if that country is but a drop in a big ocean.

-We are interested in expanding political and economic relations with Europe. We know the weight of France in this equation. It is true that France cannot play a positive role between Iran and the US or in the region but it has political power and reputation in Europe.

-What we expect from France for its political power in Europe and even in the world cannot be expected from Germany. Although Germany is an independent and developed country, it does not have the same political weight in Europe and the world.

-Based on history, there are still some countries which still have problems with this country. Germany made great efforts to introduce itself as the number one European country in resolving the political and economic issues of this continent, but this reality must be accepted that, politically, Germany is placed after France.

-Of course, economically Germany has always been among the top 3 powers in the world and France cannot be compared with it in this regard.

-Germany intends to use its economic power for political issues but France has the veto power in the UN Security Council whereas Germany does not have this power. Germany made great efforts to be placed among the negotiating countries with Iran in the nuclear issue.

-Following the implementation of the JCPOA, Germany has sent numerous economic delegations to Iran.

-The contract signed with Airbus is not actually a contract with France because Airbus is not produced only in France; it is rather a multinational product of Spain, Britain, Netherlands, Germany, France … and it is only managed by France.

-Therefore, first, Germany does not have the same political weight as France. Second, it has good economic relations with Iran and third, it is election season in Germany and this election is important because the fate of Merkel will be decided.

-Unfortunately, the issue of Iran has become a campaign issue for the candidates in Germany and this is not good. Iran was always an issue which was discussed in the previous elections but it did not have much weight because the nuclear agreement had not been reached then. The JCPOA is a huge success and cannot be compared with any other agreement.

-President Rouhani’s visit to any country is political first and then economic. Our economic relations with Germany have improved but not our political relations.  

-We should make greater efforts to convince Germany that today the improvement of political relations with Iran is to their benefit.

-We must not allow unhealthy competition to be created in Europe because we will be the loser. We must establish contact with different parties in Germany. We must strengthen socialist parties and convince Christian Democratic parties that working with Iran is to their benefit.

-Germany has never been hostile towards Iran and if it has reacted in some cases it has been along the line of the international reaction. Iran and Germany have never had big political problems but we have had problems with France and Britain.

-Today, Germany intends to gain an international political reputation in order to gain the veto right from the Security Council. Thus, Iran’s Foreign Ministry must make further efforts to improve its political relations with Germany.