Macron pushes ahead with Iran deal as Pompeo hints at pull-out
EMMANUEL MACRON and President Hassan Rouhani of Iran last night agreed to work together to preserve the Iran nuclear deal, in a marked signal to the US.
Less than a week after the French president implored the White House to stick with the agreement during a state visit to the Washington, Mr Macron suggested that the deal could be widened. In what appears to be the latest attempt to prevent Donald Trump scrapping the deal, the Élysée Palace said Mr Macron proposed in an hourlong phone call with Tehran to close loopholes in the agreement which have angered the US president.
The Élysée said last night that Mr Macron raised “three additional, indispensable subjects” not covered by the current deal with Mr Rouhani, citing Tehran’s ballistic missile programmes, its nuclear activities beyond 2025 and Iran’s destabilising influence in the Middle East.
It comes after the UK, France and Germany jointly reaffirmed their commitment on Sunday to sticking with the deal, but said that there were “important elements that the deal does not cover, but which we need to address”.
Mr Macron’s intervention came after Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, called Iran “the greatest sponsor of terrorism in the world,” in a further signal that America intends to pull out of the nuclear deal.
Speaking at a press conference in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, during his first
‘The Iran nuclear deal [is] the best way of neutralising the threat of a nucleararmed Iran’
visit to the Middle East since being sworn in last week, Mr Pompeo struck a hawkish tone as Donald Trump’s deadline for a decision on the deal looms on May 12.
However, he offered hope of some compromise to the UK, France and Germany. “We will continue to work with our European allies to fix that deal. But if a deal cannot be reached, the president has said that he will leave that deal,” Mr Pompeo said. But he added: “Unlike the prior administration, we will not neglect the vast scope of Iran’s terrorism. It is indeed the greatest sponsor of terrorism in the world. In fact, Iran has only behaved worse since the deal was approved. Iran destabilises this entire region.”
Downing Street last night announced that Theresa May has had separate discussions with President Emmanuel Macron of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany over the weekend in which they solidified their stance in support of the deal.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “They discussed the importance of the Iran nuclear deal as the best way of neutralising the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, agreeing that our priority as an international community remained preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. They agreed that there were important elements that the deal does not cover, but which we need to address.” “Acknowledging the importance of retaining the deal, they committed to continue working closely together and with the US on how to tackle the range of challenges that Iran poses.”