Old article, 2 weeks before Hilldawg lost,

Mentions French interests

After a year of disappointment, European businesses are hoping a victory for Hillary Clinton in the US election next week may help break the logjam that has prevented large-scale Western investments in Iran since the opening of its economy.

While no one in Europe is predicting a flurry of new deals should Clinton defeat her Republican rival Donald Trump on Nov. 8, a win for the Democrat would remove some of the political clouds hanging over last year's nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

Business groups say this could help fuel a more aggressive push into the Iranian market in 2017, especially in the second half of the year, if a Clinton victory is followed by the reelection of moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani next May.

"If Clinton and Rouhani win, then we will have a political window of opportunity that is much bigger than we have now," said Matthieu Etourneau, who advises French firms on the Iranian market for MEDEF International, the French employers group.

"This is what the European banks and companies are waiting for," he said.

Back in January, when the United States and Europe lifted sanctions related to Iran's nuclear program, the excitement in Europe's business community was palpable.

…

MEDEF International announced last month it was opening an office in Tehran, its first outside France, to support small and medium sized French firms seeking to enter the Iranian market.

"We expect that 20-30 billion euros in public contracts to be attributed by the Iranians before the end of their fiscal year in March," Etourneau said. "What we are telling companies is that they need a 5-10 year strategy. The market will open up progressively."

http://iran-daily.com/News/171375.html?catid=3&title=171375

"Can anyone tell me who the DOJ lawyer is that speaks French via text in the IG report? This will save a lot of time in the hearings this week so my colleagues won’t have to ask this question…" Devin Nunes