PARIS, January 28, 2016 – French president Hollande said in a joint news conference following a two-hour meeting with Rouhani at the Elysee palace that he raised the issue of human rights and freedom during the meeting, Washington Post and New York Times reported.
Iran actively supports the government of Bashar Assad, which Paris firmly opposes.
France has asked its European Union partners to consider new sanctions on Iran for its recent ballistic missile tests, officials told The Associated Press. That highlights continued suspicions between Iran and the West.
Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran, with headquarters outside Paris, held a demonstration, and 61 lawmakers signed an open letter to Hollande condemning Iran’s human rights record, with executions on the rise, and what it called its “strategy of chaos” in the Middle East.