France Needs Wine to Get Through Dinner With Iran

Really leaning into that cultural stereotype, France
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 11, 2015 1:17 PM CST
France Needs Wine to Get Through Dinner With Iran
A little cheese with your whine, France and Iran?   (Shutterstock)

They say we should embrace our differences. But they never tried to come between a Frenchman and his wine. The Washington Post reports on some dinner drama adding tension to Iranian president Hassan Rouhani's first official visit to Europe, which starts this weekend. Apparently Rouhani and French president François Hollande were scheduled to dine together at the presidential palace in Paris.

To keep the menu halal, Rouhani's people insisted on no alcohol. Hollande's camp—really leaning into that cultural stereotype—refused to do away with the traditional glass of wine at lunch or dinner, per France24. And the Post reports a compromise of a wine-free breakfast was decried as too "cheap" by the Iranians. The two heads of state will settle for a food-less chat Tuesday, likely littered with passive-aggressive remarks about being hungry or sober. (More Francois Hollande stories.)

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