As important as trying to reach a negotiated settlement with Iran is, it is as important if not more important that such a deal creates confidence on both sides.

Building the Arak heavy water reactor, which could produce plutonium to make a bomb while the talks continue, fails to create confidence; it does the opposite. It creates the impression that Iran is interested in maintaining the option of making a bomb, if and when it decides to do so while the talks are taking place. What reinforces concern and urgency regarding Arak is that the Iranian regime has not allowed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit the site since 2011. The IAEA has since had to rely on satellite images to assess developments regarding the site.

But is this the only reason why the French insisted on taking a tougher line against Iran? Absolutely not. As usual, there is always politics involved in the background, which is bound to have colored France’s decision-making.

During the era of the reformist President Mohammad Khatami, France and Iran had relatively good relations. Khatami, in fact, visited Paris in 1999. Furthermore, new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, as Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator from 2003 to 2005, secured an agreement with France, the United Kingdom and Germany. According to this agreement, Iran suspended uranium enrichment in exchange for promises of trade talks.