French President Emmanuel Macron. EPA
French President Emmanuel Macron. EPA
French President Emmanuel Macron. EPA
French President Emmanuel Macron. EPA

MENA

Macron asks Iran for 'clear gestures' on nuclear inspections

French leader also asks President Rouhani to co-operate fully with UN nuclear watchdog

Soraya Ebrahimi
Soraya Ebrahimi

March 02, 2021

  • English
  • Arabic

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday asked Iranian leader Hassan Rouhani for "clear gestures" and an immediate return to the terms of a nuclear deal with western powers.

Mr Macron's office said that he also asked Mr Rouhani to co-operate fully with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, on inspections and expressed his "deepest concern" over Tehran's breaches of the accord.

The 2015 deal has been in peril since former US president Donald Trump withdrew Washington from it and reimposed sanctions on Iran in 2018.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Tuesday that France, Britain and Germany would put forward a resolution at this week's meeting of the IAEA's board of governors condemning Iran's suspension of some nuclear inspections.

But Iran warned against such a move.

"I have to give this warning: that actions against our expectations will have adverse effects on diplomatic processes and can quickly close the windows of opportunity," said Iran's government spokesman, Ali Rabiei.

Iran expects "all parties to act rationally and prudently, and to know the value of fleeting moments", Mr Rabiei said. "We are still committed to diplomacy."

The Iranian Parliament in December passed a law suspending some of the deal's commitments if the US did not lift sanctions, or the three European countries did not help Tehran to bypass them.

Restrictions on inspections went into force on February 23.

Under the agreement with the IAEA, which runs for up to three months, data from cameras on Iran's nuclear programme will be stored and not handed over to the agency, and if sanctions are not lifted by that time, Tehran will start erasing the recordings.

Mr Rabiei said the agreement conveyed Tehran's "good-will", and now Iran expected other parties to the deal to prove theirs.

Diplomatic sources in Vienna say the European resolution is expected to face a vote on Friday, and that it is backed by the US.

US President Joe Biden has indicated his readiness to revive the deal but insists Iran must first return to all of its nuclear commitments, most of which it suspended in response to the sanctions.

Tehran demands that Washington take the first step by scrapping the sanctions.

Iran on Sunday dismissed a European offer for an informal meeting involving the US on the deal, saying the time is not right because Washington has not lifted the sanctions.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000

Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000

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Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

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