February 14-2014
Presidents Obama of the United States and Hollande of France both said firmly Tuesday that no companies could sign contracts with Iran beyond the few narrow fields open to them by the interim agreement that took effect last month.
President Francois Hollande told a joint news conference in Washington that sanctions “will only be lifted if and when there is a definitive agreement” on Iran’s nuclear program. “And during this period of an interim agreement, they remain in force.”
Both men said it was acceptable for companies to explore opportunities that might open once sanctions are lifted, but not to go beyond that and sign contracts. As for a group of more than 100 French firms that visited Tehran last week, Hollande said, “I certainly let them know that sanctions were in force and would remain in force.”
The news coverage by Iranian news outlets made it sound like the firms were lining up to sign contracts. And even the reporting of many Western news agencies made it sound that way.
Few reported the words of the leader of last week’s French business delegation who said flatly that no contracts would be signed on the trip because of sanctions.
Obama told the news conference that if any companies violate the sanctions by singing contracts, the United States “will come down on them like a ton of bricks.”
Obama spoke a week after the United States imposed sanctions on 31 individuals and business firms for sanctions violations. The Islamic Republic said the enforcement actions violated the spirit of the interim agreement, although it carefully avoided making any charge that Washington had violated the interim agreement, which bars new sanctions, but not the enforcement of existing sanctions.
The French businessmen’s visit to Tehran drew considerable news attention, if not understanding of what was going on. French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici explained to reporters that the visit did not mean that Iran was open for “business as usual.”
He said, “It seems to me that the signal given by this visit is exactly the opposite, which is to say, ‘Fulfill your obligations and, if one day that happens, things will go well.’ One must definitely not take this as a sign of laxness or consent but a bet on a future that rests on firmness and negotiation. If one day Iran changed its attitude, then there would be, we know, significant commercial and economic opportunities for all countries.”
Wendy Sherman, the US under secretary of state handling the negotiations with Iran, said essentially the same thing. In testimony to Congress last week, she said, “As far as we have seen today, there are not deals getting done, but rather people are getting first in line in the hope that someday there will be a deal.”
Iranian news reports have not claimed that a single contract has been signed. But the reporting leaves the impression that contracts are being negotiated.
For example, Deputy Economy Minister Behruz Alishiri, who is in charge of attracting foreign investment, was quoted by the Iran Daily as saying even American firms are “exploring ways to establish trade ties” with Iran. “Not only American companies, but also European firms are doing their utmost to restore trade relations,” he said.
Alishiri said, “Despite political pressures by the US, some international automakers boosted their investments in Iran’s auto sector.” But the United States has not done any such thing. The sanction on sales of auto parts was the chief sanction lifted and the United States put out a detailed announcement on just what non-American auto firms were free to do and what remained banned. The main point was that all sales agreements must be completed within the six-month life span of the interim agreement—that is, by July 20.
