France's foreign minister said on Wednesday the only way to resolve the current crisis between the United States and Iran was for Tehran to accept a broad negotiation and Washington to progressively reduce sanctions.
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Speaking to lawmakers, Jean-Yves Le Drian said efforts by France and its European partners since September 2017 to open a new negotiation that would include Iran's nuclear activities after 2025, its ballistic missile program and its regional activities in return for a reduction of US sanctions was the only way forward.
"This platform is still there and is possible," he said. "Today, it is the only solution to get out of the crisis."
France and other European countries triggered on Tuesday a mechanism that is to result in the UN sanctions being re-imposed on Iran with 60 days unless Tehran proves that it did not breach the 2015 nuclear deal. The countries said they were faced with no choice in light of Iran announcing that it was no longer bound by uranium enrichment limits set by the agreement, which US President Donald Trump withdrew from over Iranian aggression.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani dismissed on Wednesday a proposal for a new "Trump deal" aimed at resolving a nuclear row, saying it was a "strange" offer and criticized Trump for always breaking promises.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has praised Trump as a great dealmaker, called on Tuesday for the president to replace Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with major powers with his own new pact to ensure Tehran does not get an atomic weapon.
Trump said he agreed with Johnson that a "Trump deal" should replace the Iran nuclear deal. In a televised speech, Rouhani told Washington to return to the nuclear pact, which Washington abandoned in 2018, under which Tehran curbed its nuclear work in return for the lifting of international sanctions on Iran.
Since quitting the agreement, Washington has reimposed sanctions to throttle Iran's oil exports as part of a "maximum pressure" policy.
The United States says its aim is to force Tehran to agree a broader deal that puts stricter limits on its nuclear work, curbs its ballistic missile program and ends its regional proxy wars. Iran says it will not negotiate as long as sanctions remain in place.
