France cautious about China's role but welcomes Iran-Saudi agreement
Paris would have much preferred that the Saudi-Iran rapprochement would have been reached by means other than Chinese mediation.
PARIS — The French Foreign Ministry is publicly supporting the agreement reached last week between Iran and Saudi Arabia to renew bilateral diplomatic relations, while also striking a cautious tone when it comes to China — the broker— and its growing role in region.
The ministry’s spokesperson, Anne-Claire Legendre, said on Tuesday that France supports all measures likely to contribute to the stability of the region.
That being said, Legendre refused to address the issue of the Chinese mediation that led to the agreement, nor would it address the possibility of a Chinese-Iranian-Saudi strategic alliance. The spokesperson simply noted that Paris has been following up for the past few years on trends of Chinese regional implications not just in the Gulf but also in other parts of the world.
“It had not escaped us that high-level meetings were held between China and Iran. Important agreements were signed between these two countries. [Iranian] President Ebrahim Raisi had visited Beijing and [Chinese] President Xi had visited Saudi Arabia. The strengthening of China's relations with this part of the world is a trend that we have observed in recent years,” Legendre told Al-Monitor.
