Iran-France Have Wide-scale Capacities To Boost Ties: Mehmanparast

Shiraz, May 19, IRNA – Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on Thursday that Iran and France have widescale capacities to develop economic cooperation in light of ancient ties. Referring to the strategic location of Iran in the region and special role of France in the European Union, he added that the two countries can promote cooperation based on mutual respect. He recalled that promoting cooperation will benefit both the EU and the Middle East. Criticizing former French president Nicolas Sarkozy for his wrong policies about the region and Iran, Mehmanparast noted that French election indicated that his policies have failed and damaged the French national interests. The spokesman hoped that the newly-elected president Francois Hollande would take positive approach to make up for Sarkozy’s mistakes. As to the plan for Bahrain annexation to Saudi Arabia, he said the two countries are quite distinct in terms of economic and cultural capacities. "Creating a union of regional states require a long-term planning and all-out deliberations." When Bahrain lacks necessary criteria for unification with a big country such as Saudi Arabia, their unity will be tantamount to eliminating a country with political implications. "Solving Bahrain’s problem requires a peaceful solution and instead of suppressing public protests, the rulers should pay attention to the public demands," he said. "If such plans are pursued with political motivations and hastily, problems will emerge for the entire region." He said that regional countries can gain real might through winning public satisfaction and attending to public demands. Meanwhile, Mehmanparast condemned Google’s move to delete Persian Gulf’s name from world map and said that the move contravenes freedom of expression and is in violation of historic documents. Such acts will harm the authenticity of the websites such as Google, he said, noting that if Google does not take actions to rectify the mistake, Iranian Foreign Ministry will take legal action against Google for violating Iranian rights./end