France and Iran

For the reasons why France came out against a nuclear agreement with Iran, I suggest reading the interview with Professor Abdolreza Faraji-Rad. France wants to maintain its historical influence in the Levant region which came about during World War 1 (see the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement between Britain and France to divide up the Middle East.) French corporatocracy is a factor because the French influence aids such companies as Total (petroleum) and Peugeot (autos). In the goal of preventing Iran from emerging as a regional power, France finds allies in Israel and certain factions in the U.S. Congress. France is a rival to the U.S. in this region. “Therefore, the French officials are concerned both in economic and geopolitical terms because they see that their power and influence in the Middle East, in general, and the Levant, in particular, is on [the] decline.”

UPDATE: France has worked closely with Israel before. The French-Israeli nuclear cooperation in the 1949-1957 period is reviewed here.

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