Total SA Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie, in an interview with Le Monde newspaper, has affirmed that his company will continue to work in Iran and Myanmar despite pressure coming from government and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).

China Nonferrous Metal Industry’s Foreign Engineering and Construction Company will co-build an alumina plant in Iran with annual capacity of 200,000 tons, it said in a company filing on Thursday.

Despite chummy embraces and warm words, the leaders of Russia and France could not agree on one of the diplomatic world’s most pressing questions, whether or not Iran’s nuclear program would remain peaceful.