PARIS: An official lunch between the French president Francois Hollande and his Iranian counterpart is unlikely to happen after the latter requested for halal meat and no wine on the menu, media reports said on Tuesday

President Hassan Rouhani reportedly turned down the invitation after the Elysée Palace rejected his request, according to RTL radio.

“A meal had been planned but fell through,” a source involved in French–Iranian affairs told RTL radio’s website.
During the planned official lunch, the two heads of state are due to discuss a recent historic nuclear deal with Iran.
The controversy over alcohol has threatened to overshadow Rouhani’s historic visit to France, who will be the first Iranian leader to travel to Europe in a decade.