Iranians Dissatisfied with France’s Peugeot: Minister
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Minister of Industry, Mines, and Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh criticized the French automaker Peugeot, saying that a large number of Iranians are not satisfied with the company’s performance in the country.
“Although six million Peugeot cars are traveling on roads in Iran, our people are dissatisfied to some extent with Peugeot’s performance,” Nematzadeh said in a meeting with a high-ranking economic delegation from France, including senior officials with PSA Peugeot Citroën, France’s largest car manufacturer.
“One of the people’s grievances is that you have been working with Iran for 40 years and we still have to be consumers of your old products,” the Iranian minister said addressing the Peugeot delegation.
He further said in the new era of mutual cooperation between Iranian and French automakers, including Peugeot and Renault, Iran insists on joint production of the companies’ new models.
Back on July 29, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, upon his arrival in Tehran, announced that a “very important” delegation of French businessmen will pay a visit to Tehran in the near future.
Currently, officials of about 150 French companies are visiting Iran, led by Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll and Trade Minister Matthias Fekl who are tagged along by representatives of energy companies Total and Technip and plane manufacturer Airbus.
The visit comes against the backdrop of a new wave of renewed interest in ties with Iran after Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) on July 14 reached a conclusion over the text of a comprehensive 159-page deal on Iran’s nuclear program.
The comprehensive nuclear deal would terminate all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran after coming into force.
Experts believe that Iran’s economic growth would rise remarkably after the final nuclear deal takes effect.
