Iran's President Is in Europe to Sign Some Million-Dollar Deals, Despite Rights Concerns

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani arrived in Europe on Monday to make the case for his country as a potential investment bonanza, after the lifting of financial sanctions brought the nation back into the world of global commerce.

Campaigners and analysts have warned, however, that the nation's dire human rights record — it executes more people per capita than any other country in the world — and its militarized industrial sector lacking in labor rights should not be ignored as the world scrambles to get a piece of the new desirable market in the Middle East.

Accompanied by Iranian entrepreneurs, Rouhani will meet Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Pope Francis, and French President Francois Hollande, in the first visit to Europe by an Iranian president in 16 years.

Senior Iranian officials have said the country is aiming to sign a deal with Airbus to buy 114 planes, while an Italian government official said Rouhani may sign as many as 12 deals worth $18 billion with different companies.

Iran also plans to eventually buy up to 100 planes from Boeing, Deputy Transport Minister Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan said at an aviation conference on the eve of the visit.

"Important contracts will probably be signed on this trip including with Peugeot and Renault," Rouhani told reporters at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport before setting off, reported AFP.

News agency Tasnim reported on Sunday that Iran Khodro, the biggest car manufacturer in the Middle East, and French car maker Peugeot, had signed an initial agreement worth $545 million to jointly produce cars.

The two companies had a deal before sanctions, and Iran was once Peugeot's second biggest market after France, with around 400,000 of its cars a year sold there before the company withdrew in 2012.

Rouhani, a pragmatist elected in 2013 on a platform to reduce Iran's isolation, championed the deal finalized last July under which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in return for the lifting of US, EU, and United Nations sanctions this month.

His 120-strong delegation includes the ministers of oil and gas, transport, industry, and health, as well as political and business leaders.

Rouhani has spoken of a "long road" to Iran's economic integration with the world.

The visit to France, the first by an Iranian president since 1999, will provide opportunities to smooth over particularly awkward relations with a country that has historically been comparatively friendly.

Paris took a hard line towards Iran among the six powers that were party to the nuclear negotiations, and has been outspoken in its condemnation of Iran's support for Syrian President Bashar al Assad and skeptical of Tehran's other Middle East interventions.

"Trust needs to be built. It's like love. It is only the proof of love that counts," said a senior French diplomat.

The visit also comes as global diplomats are trying to arrange the first peace talks in two years to end the Syrian civil war. Iran, a Shia Muslim nation, is the strongest ally of Assad, while European countries back his mainly Sunni Muslim opponents.

Recent months have also seen an increase in hostility between Iran and traditional Western ally Saudi Arabia. "This is a very important visit," said a senior Iranian official. "It's time to turn the page and open the door to cooperation between our countries in different areas."

The plight of Christians in the Middle East is likely to be discussed during Rouhani's meeting with the pope, as well as human rights. The Vatican strongly opposes executions, which have increased since Rouhani took office.

Labor rights in Iran are also appalling, with 233 labor rights activists killed in the 12 months leading up to May 2015.

"European countries are rushing head first to get into Tehran, but they are bargaining with human rights for short-term commercial and economic interests" said Tahar Boumedra, a former United Nations human rights official in Iraq.

Large parts of Iran's industrial sector are controlled by the Revolutionary Guard, pointed out Channel 4 News economics editor Paul Mason. "With their front companies de-listed and given new access to the international bank clearing system, many of the Guards' leaders will now get very rich," he wrote in a Guardian column last week.

"The workforce, deprived of all basic rights to organize, their jobs totally precarious, and with 70 percent earning less than the official poverty level, will get the chance to be exploited by global capital, not just the guards, the mullahs, and their cronies."