Iran's President to meet Pope Francis

Hollande will host Rouhani at the Elysee Palace but French media reported this week that plans for an official dinner had been cancelled after Iran insisted it had to be alcohol-free.

According to French radio station RTL (link in French), the Iranian delegation requested a halal meal, with no wine bottles on the table.

July 17, 1987: Diplomatic relations are broken off after the refusal of Vahid Gordji, officially an interpreter at France's Iranian embassy, to appear before a French court probing 1985-1986 attacks in Paris in which 13 people died.

Now the two leaders will meet on a rather mundane Tuesday, after Rouhani's meetings with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Pope Francis and prominent Italian companies have taken place over the weekend.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani greet French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius in Tehran

That proposal was rejected by the Iranian president as "cheap", and the two world leaders are set to meet, sans food and wine, next week. President Rouhani's staff requested a meal with halal meat and absolutely no wine.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is making a landmark trip to Europe this week, meant to mark Iran's coming out party after years of worldwide sanctions.

But the meeting is nevertheless an important moment for both.

For French industry, the stakes are high.

On Iran's participation in the next Syrian peace talk in Vienna on Saturday and what the Islamic Republic pursues in the talks, the President said "what we want is the return of security to Syria and defeating terrorism". Analysts says Paris may initially secure deals in areas that were not specifically hit by sanctions imposed by the European Union and United States, most notably in agriculture and livestock, where France has relatively little activity in Iran. Italy, Germany and other nations have already dispatched trade missions and senior ministers to Tehran in preparation for what they hope will be a green light to turn on the spigots of investment early next year. These sentiments even inspired far-right groups, like the National Front party, to contend the growing prevalence of kebab shops in France is a form of cultural assault.