TEHRAN — France and its capital, Paris, have always been the destination for Iran's intellectuals and its urban middle and upper classes, but what some Iranians view as France's sabotage of the recent five permanent members of the UN Security Council (P5+1) nuclear negotiations has resulted in a significant change in their opinion of French politicians. Iranian media, parliament members and citizens have responded harshly, some even going as far as to post criticism of France's position on the Facebook page of Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.

Tehran University professor Sadeq Zibaqalam, said in an interview with the government-run Iranian News Agency, "France always wants to demonstrate its independence from the United States and other European countries, and so its foreign minister's opposition can also be interpreted along these lines." He further explained, "Fabius is pursuing the views of Saudi Arabia and Israel.”

According to various reports, there are three primary reasons for France's opposition: the fate of Iran's enriched uranium, construction of the Arak heavy-water reactor and continuation of enrichment processing by Iran.

The idea that France’s financial and military relationship with Arab countries in the Persian Gulf played a key role was by far one of the more common beliefs held by Iranians interviewed by Al-Monitor.