France National Assembly president postpones Iran visit after terror attack

The president of the French lower house of parliament has postponed his planned trip to Iran in the wake of a deadly terrorist attack in southern France.

“Following the terrorist incidents in France, a visit by the head of the French National Assembly and his accompanying delegation, which was due to be made tomorrow (Saturday), has been postponed,” the public relations office of the Parliament (Majlis) announced on Friday.

Claude Bartolone had been due to make the four-day trip at the invitation of Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani.

The French parliamentarian had been scheduled to meet with Larijani and other senior Iranian officials to discuss ways to bolster bilateral cooperation months after the implementation of the nuclear agreement between Tehran and the P5+1 group of countries.

On Thursday night, a driver drove a truck at high speed into a large crowd of people who had gathered for Bastille Day fireworks in the southern French city of Nice, killing at least 84 people, including children.

Iran has condemned the fatal incident in Nice as a “criminal terrorist attack” and extended sympathy to the French nation over the tragic deaths.

In a Friday statement, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi described terrorism as “an ominous phenomenon, which could not be dealt with except through international cooperation and consensus.”

“In confronting terror, any negligence and [resort to] double standards are morally wrong and doomed to failure,” the official added.

SS