Oslo (AFP)
The head of Iranian diplomacy said Thursday, on the eve of a meeting with the French president, "points of agreement" with Emmanuel Macron, who seeks to save the Iranian nuclear deal weakened by the US withdrawal .
"President Macron has contacted President (Iranian) Hassan Rohani with various proposals and President Rohani has asked me to meet President Macron to see if we can finalize some of these proposals to allow everyone to fulfill of its obligations under JCPOA (the nuclear deal), "said Mohammad Javad Zarif.
"This is an opportunity to review President Macron's proposal and to present President Rohani's point of view, and see if we can find common ground." We already have points of agreement. he added.
In Paris, the French presidency has confirmed that Emmanuel Macron will receive on Friday morning the Iranian minister to discuss Iran's nuclear power before the G7 summit in Biarritz, during which this very sensitive issue will be discussed.
The meeting will be held "in continuity" with the talks held by the French president in recent months to try to safeguard the agreement on Iran's nuclear power (JCPOA), which the United States came out in 2018, according to the French presidency .
The meeting, which will take place outside the press, was announced by the Iranian media earlier this week.
Emmanuel Macron had confirmed Wednesday, in front of journalists, that he would meet with Iranian representatives "to try to propose things" while the Iranian nuclear will be the focus of discussions in Biarritz between Donald Trump on one side, and the leaders of the European countries signatories of the text, the other. "We have real disagreements in the G7," he admitted.
A signatory to Iran's nuclear deal reached in 2015, France has been leading European efforts to salvage the text since the unilateral withdrawal of US President Donald Trump in May 2018, followed by the reinstatement of draconian sanctions against Tehran.
Concluded between Iran and the 5 + 1 group (United States, China, Russia, United Kingdom, France and Germany), the agreement had allowed the lifting of part of the sanctions in exchange for the Iranian commitment of do not acquire nuclear weapons.
In response to US withdrawal and the inability of Europeans to help it get around the sanctions, Tehran stopped in July to honor some of its commitments under the deal.
Iran has threatened to free itself from other obligations if the parties to the agreement still fail to help it bypass sanctions, including selling its oil.
These measures "can be canceled as soon as Europe complies with its JCPOA obligations," Zarif repeated on Thursday.
After the meeting between MM. Macron and Zarif, the Iranian issue should still be addressed at the G7 summit to be held in stride in Biarritz from Saturday to Monday.
© 2019 AFP