US President Donald Trump said on Monday he was prepared to meet his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani within weeks, after talks about Tehran’s nuclear programme at the G7 summit in France.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had made a surprise appearance on the sidelines of the summit in Biarritz on Sunday at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron.
Macron said the “conditions for a meeting” between Trump and Rouhani “in the next few weeks” had been created through intensive diplomacy and consultations.
“If the circumstances were correct, I would certainly agree to that,” Trump said at a press conference with Macron at the end of three days of talks.
Asked if he thought the timeline proposed by his French counterpart was realistic, Trump replied: “It does”, adding he thought Rouhani would also be in favour.
“I think he’s going to want to meet. I think Iran wants to get this situation straightened out,” he added.
Trump has put in place a policy of “maximum pressure” on Tehran over its disputed nuclear programme via crippling sanctions that are seen as raising the risk of conflict in the Middle East.
The US president last year unilaterally pulled out of a landmark 2015 international deal that placed limits on Tehran’s nuclear activities in exchange for trade, investment and sanctions relief.
– ‘Real progress’ –
Macron has urged the US administration to offer some sort of relief to Iran, such as lifting sanctions on oil sales to China and India, and has raised the possibility of a new credit line to enable exports.
In return, Iran would return to complying with the 2015 deal.
Commenting on the talks about Iran at the G7, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: “It’s a big step forward. Now there is an atmosphere in which talks are welcomed.”
Macron and Trump hailed the common ground found by G7 leaders at their summit, which was dominated by the Iranian nuclear crisis, global trade tensions and fires in the Amazon.
“We have managed to find real points of convergence, unprecedented, very positive, that will allow us to go forward in a very useful way,” Macron told the press conference.
Trump said Macron had done a “fantastic job” at the G7.
“This was a very special, a very unified two and a half days and I want to thank you,” Trump told his host.
Just a few weeks ago, Trump lambasted Macron for sending “mixed signals” on Iran, and at the end of July the US administration imposed sanctions on Zarif.
Macron acknowledged there had been “nervousness” ahead of the summit because of tensions between the US and Europe on a host of issues.