Trump dampens Macron optimism on Iran talks

Biarritz, France

US President Donald Trump appeared to brush aside French efforts to mediate with Iran on Sunday, saying that while he was happy for President Emmanuel Macron to reach out to Teheran 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 US since Mr Trump pulled his country out of Iran's internationally-brokered 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions on the Iranian economy.

Mr 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 that G-7 leaders had even agreed that Mr Macron should hold talks and pass on messages to Iran after they discussed the issue over dinner at a summit in south-western France on Saturday evening.

However, Mr Trump, who has pushed a maximum pressure policy on Iran, pushed back.

Asked if he had signed off on a statement that Mr Macron intends to give on behalf of the G-7 on Iran, Mr 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."

Mr Macron appeared to backtrack on his own team's comments later, saying that 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, he said that 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 Mr 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," Mr Macron told LCI television. "We have to continue to take initiatives and in the coming weeks that on the one hand there are no more Iranian decisions that contradict this objective and that we open new negotiations."

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, Teheran has responded with a series of moves, including retreating from some of its commitments to limit its nuclear activity made under the deal.

The US has made no indication it will ease any sanctions and it is unclear what kind of compensation mechanism Mr Macron wants to offer Iran, given that at this stage a proposed trade channel for humanitarian and food exchanges with Iran is still not operational.

Mr 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 programme and regional activities. REUTERS