What was France’s role in the 1979 Iranian revolution?

In 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran from exile in France.

Paris had hoped that Khomeini would bring democracy to Iran in 1979, but relations have soured. Still, French President Emmanuel Macron supports dialogue with Tehran in the face of US hostility after the US unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal.

France’s involvement in the Iranian revolution was complex, as has been the relationship since then.

Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler looks back at France’s role in Iran’s Islamic Revolution.