Paris prevents Munich in Geneva, Tehran livid

As the rift widens between Israel and the U.S. over Iran's nuclear program and the peace process with the Palestinians, outrage is growing in Iran toward France, after the French reportedly blocked Western efforts to ease the economic sanctions on the Islamic republic and in essence prevented an agreement from being signed during the last round of nuclear talks in Geneva over the weekend.

After the talks concluded, with progress but no signed agreement, Tehran and Paris began exchanging harsh accusations. According to a report in the French daily Le Figaro on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif criticized the French position during the talks, which he described as "far tougher than that of the Americans."

The French media reported extensively on French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius' intervention in the negotiations between Iran and the West, which, according to them, prevented the finalization of a deal. French newspaper Le Monde reported that "the Iranian script didn't pan out because of France. The Iranians and the other delegations were very optimistic, until Fabius arrived."

French weekly magazine L'Express also reported extensively on the events in Geneva. The magazine quoted former French Ambassador to Iran Francois Nicoullaud as saying that former French President Nicolas Sarkozy first initiated France's tough stance on Iran, and that his successor, current President Francois Hollande, has kept the same stance.

Meanwhile, an Iranian Facebook user posted a question on Fabius' official page on Sunday, asking, "How many meters high is the wall surrounding the French Embassy in Tehran-" In France, this comment was interpreted as a threat and a possible reference to the 1979 break-in and hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

Other web users in Tehran traded their usual "Death to America" mantra with the new "Death to France" and the Iranian media speculated on how much money France had received from the Gulf states, namely Saudi Arabia, to sabotage the talks. One Iranian commentator wrote that Fabius was not just a French foreign minister, but "a foreign minister for Israel." Other commentators linked the tough French stance to Hollande's upcoming trip to Israel.

A tweet attributed to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that "French officials have been openly hostile toward the Iranian nation over the past few years; this is an imprudent and inept move."

A European source involved in the Geneva talks over the weekend told Israel Hayom that "the Iranians were convinced that they had a done deal on their hands, especially after the arrival of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry."

The source said that "now the Iranians will do anything to capitalize on France's isolation in Geneva in order to force them to break in the next round of talks, set to kick off on Nov. 20. The Iranians realize that the West wants a deal, and it was only France that prevented it."

Ironically, the Iranian onslaught on France prompted Republican U.S. senators to shower compliments on the French. The French weekly Le Point ran a prominent headline featuring a tweet written by Republican Senator John McCain: "France had the courage to prevent a bad nuclear agreement with Iran ... Vive la France!"

Meanwhile, fellow Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told CNN's State of the Union: "Thank God for France and thank God for push back."

"The French are becoming very good leaders in the Mideast," Graham said, also suggesting he would be in favor of more sanctions against Iran.

"My fear is that we're going to wind up creating a North Korea-type situation in the Mideast, where we negotiate with Iran and one day you wake up ... and you're going to have a nuclear Iran," he said.

The French media also stressed the four stipulations to be made by Congress next week ahead of the upcoming round of talks. These are that Iran suspend all uranium enrichment, decommission its centrifuges, stop construction at the heavy-water plant in Arak, and agree to extensive supervision over its nuclear program.

Ahead of the resumption of negotiations in just over a week, the big question on everyone's minds is for how much longer France will be able to prevent the agreement from being finalized. A French diplomat explained to Le Figaro on Thursday that there is no indication that Iran has abandoned its nuclear aspirations, but if the U.S. wants to reach a deal, it would be very difficult to prevent it.

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