News of this weekend’s apparently dramatic breakthrough in negotiations between Iran and the so-called P5+1 countries looking to limit any nuclear ambition on Tehran’s part, has been hailed by domestic and French automakers.
Iran has been subject to crippling sanctions as the P5+1, the US, the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China, as well as the European Union, have attempted to thwart what some maintain is the country’s proposed enrichment of uranium for nuclear weapons, but talks in Geneva have seen speculation the auto sector could benefit by up to US$500m in the Middle East country.
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No precise details of any sanctions lifting have yet been disclosed, but Iranian automaker Iran Khodro (IKCO), PSA Peugeot Citroen and Renault, have hailed the apparent breakthrough that will give Tehran six months to comply with initial Western nuclear requirements.
“There is a new atmosphere in Iran – we are very hopeful,” an IKCO spokesman told just-auto from Tehran. “This is the first breaking of these sanctions.
“And also [there could be] new partnerships from other automakers that can come to this market, which is attractive for foreign investors.
“This is a new day for automakers. More than [just] previous partners, we can also host more automakers which are interested to come to invest in the automotive sector of Iran.”
Any dilution of sanctions would represent welcome news for Renault, which is involved in Iran through its Logan and Megane models, but also PSA which sells nearly 500,000 knock-down kits in Iran.
“We are staying attentive to the situation- we have noted what happened [this weekend],” a PSA spokeswoman told just-auto from Paris. “But of course sales resumption will not start immediately.
“We do not allow ourselves to confirm any restart – we stay in observation. But it [Iran] is an important market for Europe.”
President Francois Hollande said the Geneva talks represented: “A step towards the end of the Iranian nuclear military programme and thus to a normalisation of our relations with Iran.
“France will continue its efforts to reach a final agreement on this subject,” he said. “The intermediary deal adopted represents an important step in the right direction.
Renault – which has seen its CKD shipments plummet from 103,000 last year to 32,000 at the end of October – also welcomed any tentative easing of sanctions.
“Renault is satisfied with the signature of this deal, which should allow for the lifting of the sanctions,” a Renault spokeswoman told just-auto. “If the sanctions are indeed lifted then our activity which is currently stopped – that is shipment of parts to Iran – this should restart up again at a normal rhythm which is really good news.
“The Iranian market is an important one for us, but we need to wait and see how this agreement will be implemented.”
President Barack Obama conceded sanctions had had a “substantial impact” on the Iranian economy, but referred to the coming to power this year of new Iranian President Rouhani, that appears to have ushered in an “opening for diplomacy,” following the election.
“If Iran seizes this opportunity, the Iranian people will benefit from rejoining the international community, and we can begin to chip away at the mistrust between our two nations,” said the US President.
“This would provide Iran with a dignified path to forge a new beginning with the wider world based on mutual respect. If, on the other hand, Iran refuses, it will face growing pressure and isolation.”
Not everyone has embraced the news of a potential Iranian breakthrough however, with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, noting: “It reduces the pressure on Iran without receiving anything tangible in return and the Iranians who laughed all the way to the bank are themselves saying that this deal has saved them.”
For its part, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), a lobby group which has campaigned against automakers doing business in Iran issued a statement following the Swiss talks.
“While we sincerely hope a comprehensive and verifiable agreement that rolls back Iran’s nuclear programme is reached in six months, the interim agreement reached in Geneva provides disproportionate sanctions relief to Iran,” said UANI CEO, Mark Wallace.
“It is unrealistic to characterise sanctions as a spigot that can be turned off and back on. By rolling back sanctions now, the international community is significantly lessening the pressure on Iran’s economy and the best measure of that pressure is the value of the Iranian rial.
“Six months from now we believe the Iranian rial will have regained significant lost value and there will be far less economic pressure on the Iranian economy. And accordingly there will be far less pressure for Iran to actually dismantle a material number of centrifuges, much less end its nuclear enrichment and plutonium programmes for which it has no practical purpose except to produce a nuclear weapon.”
News of the potential breakthrough in the hitherto deadlocked talks come as IKCO told just-auto Iran was organising an International Conference on the Automotive Industry this weekend in Tehran.
Speakers include: Iranian first vice president, Eshaq Jahangiri Kouhshahi; the CEOs of IKCO and fellow-Iranian automaker, SAIPA, Hashem Yekkeh Zare and Saeid Madani; chairman of Renault’s Asia Pacific region, Gilles Normand; chairman of Pininfarina in Italy, Silvio Pietro Angori and vice president of French suppliers association, FIEV, Arnaud de David de Beauregard.
