Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is in talks with his French counterpart on the sidelines of a G-7 leaders' summit to discuss what conditions would de-escalate tensions between Washington and Tehran, a French presidency official said.
"Zarif came to Paris on Friday with Iranian propositions which obviously must be refined," the French official said.
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"Yesterday there was a substantial discussion between G7 leaders and it is important to now update Zarif in order to keep closing the gap...on the conditions with which we could de-escalate the tensions and create breathing space for negotiations."
Flight tracking website flightradar24.com showed an Iranian government jet landed at Biarritz's airport, which has been closed for the duration of the summit from Saturday to Monday.
Iranian state television cited the foreign ministry as saying Zarif would not hold talks with US President Donald Trump's summit delegation.
Asked to comment on reports that Zarif had landed in Biarritz, Trump said: "No comment."
The office of French President Emmanuel Macron, who is hosting the G-7 summit, declined to comment as did the French foreign ministry.
Earlier, Trump appeared to brush aside French efforts to mediate with Iran on Sunday, saying that while he was happy for Macron to reach out to Tehran to defuse tensions, he would carry on with his own initiatives.
European leaders have struggled to tamp down the brewing confrontation between Iran and the United States since Trump pulled his country out of Iran's internationally-brokered 2015 nuclear deal and re-imposed sanctions on the Iranian economy.
Macron, who has pushed mediation efforts in recent weeks to avoid a further deterioration in the region, had told LCI television that the G-7 had agreed on joint action on Iran.
The French presidency said G-7 leaders had even agreed that Macron should hold talks and pass on messages to Iran after they discussed the issue over dinner at a summit in southwestern France on Saturday evening.
However, Trump, who has pushed a maximum pressure policy on Iran, pushed back.
Asked if he had signed off on a statement that Macron intends to give on behalf of the G-7 on Iran, Trump said:
"I haven't discussed this. No I haven't," he told reporters, adding that Macron and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe were free to talk to Iran.
"We'll do our own outreach, but, you know, I can't stop people from talking. If they want to talk, they can talk."
Macron, who has taken the lead to defuse tensions fearing that a collapse of the nuclear deal could set ablaze the Middle East, met Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Friday. The aim was to discuss proposals that could ease the crisis, including the idea of reducing some US sanctions or providing Iran with an economic compensation mechanism.
Macron appeared to backtrack on his own team's comments later, saying there was no formal mandate from the G-7 leaders to pass a message to Iran.
Highlighting just how difficult agreeing on concrete measures between allies is, Macron said the leaders' views had converged on not wanting Iran to acquire a nuclear bomb and ensuring peace and security in the Middle East.
He was supposed to discuss those ideas with Trump on the sidelines of the G-7, which also comprises Britain, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and the EU.
"Everyone wants to avoid a conflict, Donald Trump was extremely clear on that point," Macron told LCI.
In response to the tougher US sanctions and what it says is the inability of European powers party to the deal – France, Britain and Germany – to compensate it for its lost oil revenue, Tehran has responded with a series of moves, including retreating from some of its commitments to limit its nuclear activity made under the deal.
The United States has made no indication it will ease any sanctions and it is unclear what kind of compensation mechanism Macron wants to offer Iran given at this stage a proposed trade channel for humanitarian and food exchanges with Iran is still not operational.
Macron has also said that in return for any concessions he would expect Iran to comply fully with the nuclear deal and for Iran to engage in new negotiations that would include its ballistic missile program and regional activities.
