Trump’s Iran U-turn
President tells summit he’s open to meeting with counterpart
US President Donald Trump said he was prepared to meet his Iranian counterpart within weeks in what would amount to a stunning change of direction in the two countries’ smouldering standoff.
The potential breakthrough was announced at the G7 summit by Mr Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron, who said he would facilitate the first face-to-face meeting between the US president and the Iranians.
The surprise news came after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made a dramatic, unscheduled appearance on the sidelines of the summit held in Biarritz at the invitation of Mr Macron.
The 41-year-old French leader said the “conditions for a meeting” between Mr Trump and Iran’s Hassan Rouhani “in the next few weeks” had been created through intensive diplomacy and consultation.
“If the circumstances were correct, I would certainly agree to that,” Mr Trump said.
Both men will be in New York for the UN General Assembly at the end of September, which could provide the stage for the talks.
Mr Trump has put in place a policy of “maximum pressure” on Tehran over its disputed nuclear program via crippling sanctions that critics see as raising the risk of conflict in the Middle East between the United States and Iran.
Mr Rouhani appeared to accept the idea of opening to talks with Washington.
“I believe that for our country’s national interests we must use any tool,” he said of Mr Zarif’s Biarritz visit.
Mr Macron and Mr Trump hailed the common ground found by G7 leaders at their summit, which was dominated by the Iranian crisis, global trade tensions and fires in the Amazon.
Commenting on his escalating trade war with China, Mr Trump held out hope of a deal to thaw the bruising year-long dispute that has seen tariffs imposed on billions of dollars’ worth of goods by both sides.
On the final day of the summit, the agenda also included action to fight fires destroying swathes of the Amazon.
The members agreed to spend $20 million on the world’s biggest rainforest, mainly to send firefighting aircraft to tackle blazes.
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson won Mr Trump’s sympathy after the American leader suggested the European Union would drive a hard bargain and that it would be “tough” to get a Brexit deal.
Mr Trump offered effusive praise for Mr Johnson and said he had to “try to do something with Brexit”, a task that eluded his predecessor Theresa May.