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Iranian President Raisi Begins Africa Trip with Visit to Kenya

05 July 2023, Iran, Tehran: President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi speaks during a cabinet meeting. (Iranian Presidency/dpa)
05 July 2023, Iran, Tehran: President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi speaks during a cabinet meeting. (Iranian Presidency/dpa)
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Iranian President Raisi Begins Africa Trip with Visit to Kenya

05 July 2023, Iran, Tehran: President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi speaks during a cabinet meeting. (Iranian Presidency/dpa)
05 July 2023, Iran, Tehran: President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi speaks during a cabinet meeting. (Iranian Presidency/dpa)

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi received a red carpet welcome from Kenyan counterpart William Ruto on Wednesday as he began a three-country tour of Africa that Tehran has touted as a "new beginning" in relations with the continent.
Raisi's trip to Africa, which will also take him to Uganda and Zimbabwe, is the first by an Iranian president in more than a decade, and represents a bid to diversify economic ties in the face of crippling US sanctions, Reuters said.
Iran stepped up its diplomatic outreach to developing world countries after then-US President Donald Trump ditched a nuclear pact in 2018 and reimposed sanctions.
In June, Raisi visited three Latin American countries to shore up support with allies also saddled with US sanctions.
Iran's trade with African countries will increase to more than $2 billion this year, its foreign ministry said on Saturday, without providing a comparative figure for 2022.
Raisi was welcomed by an honor guard at Kenya's presidential palace before joining Ruto for a meeting, video posted on social media by Kenya's presidency showed.
His trip to Kenya, East Africa's economic powerhouse, will provide the two countries an "opportunity to review and re-energise their bilateral relations for the mutual benefit of the people of the two countries," Kenya's foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
Raisi is expected to next fly to Uganda to discuss trade and bilateral relations with President Yoweri Museveni, and then to Zimbabwe.
The last Iranian leader to visit Africa was Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2013.

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Le Pen Makes New Threat to Withdraw Support for French Government

French far-right leader and member of parliament Marine Le Pen, President of the French far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) party parliamentary group, talks to journalists as she leaves after a meeting with the French Prime Minister to discuss the 2025 budget bill (PLF) at the Hotel Matignon in Paris, France, November 25, 2024. (Reuters)
French far-right leader and member of parliament Marine Le Pen, President of the French far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) party parliamentary group, talks to journalists as she leaves after a meeting with the French Prime Minister to discuss the 2025 budget bill (PLF) at the Hotel Matignon in Paris, France, November 25, 2024. (Reuters)
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Le Pen Makes New Threat to Withdraw Support for French Government

French far-right leader and member of parliament Marine Le Pen, President of the French far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) party parliamentary group, talks to journalists as she leaves after a meeting with the French Prime Minister to discuss the 2025 budget bill (PLF) at the Hotel Matignon in Paris, France, November 25, 2024. (Reuters)
French far-right leader and member of parliament Marine Le Pen, President of the French far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) party parliamentary group, talks to journalists as she leaves after a meeting with the French Prime Minister to discuss the 2025 budget bill (PLF) at the Hotel Matignon in Paris, France, November 25, 2024. (Reuters)

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen issued a new threat on Monday to withdraw support for France's coalition government in a no-confidence vote, after talks with Prime Minister Michel Barnier failed to satisfy her party's demands for budget concessions.

Le Pen said nothing had changed following the discussions, and that she was not optimistic a compromise on the belt-tightening 2025 budget bill could be reached.

"Nothing appears less certain," she told reporters.

The Senate was set to debate on Monday following its rejection by lawmakers in the National Assembly after revisions by lawmakers in the lower house.

Opposition parties are threatening to topple Barnier's government as it seeks approval for the budget, and his fragile coalition relies on her National Rally (RN) party for its survival.

The government is seeking to squeeze 60 billion euros ($62.85 billion) in savings through tax increases and spending cuts to reduce the deficit to 5% of economic output next year from over 6% this year.

National Rally has said it will support the efforts to oust the government if certain demands are not met. Le Pen said last week that the RN opposes increasing the tax burden on households, entrepreneurs or pensioners, and that so far these demands were not reflected in the budget bill.

LEGAL PROBLEMS

Le Pen's own political future is also under threat, with prosecutors seeking a mandatory five-year ban from politics for her alleged role in an embezzlement scheme. Le Pen denies the allegations.

Some analysts have suggested her legal problems may accelerate her plans to bring down the government,

Barnier's struggles to secure approval for the budget have fueled speculation he will invoke article 49.3 of the constitution, which allows the text to be adopted without a vote. Such a move could trigger a no-confidence motion against the government.

"It is true that we find very little quality in this budget and very little time for the government to try to increase its qualities and reduce its defects," Le Pen said.

Barnier was also due to meet other political leaders on Monday to seek a compromise on the budget bill. A final vote on the overall budget is scheduled for Dec. 12.