Iranian, French Presidents Meet in New York

EghtesadOnline: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron held a meeting on the sidelines of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

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23 September 2022

The Elysee Palace had earlier said the two presidents would meet on Tuesday.

Macron is also scheduled to meet US President Joe Biden on Wednesday.

“We’ll see what this week brings,” French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told reporters on Monday. “The window of opportunity [for the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal] seems ready to close again.”

“We are repeatedly saying ... there is no better offer for Iran [referring to a proposal by the EU for the restoration of the deal],” she said, AFP reported.

In comments at a press conference on Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani raised the possibility that the talks about reviving the nuclear deal and lifting the sanctions on Tehran could be held on the sidelines of the UNGA.

Iran will seize every opportunity to express its views about regional and international developments, the spokesman said, stressing that Tehran has never left the negotiating table and regards “constructive talks” as an appropriate, logical and rational way for settling differences.

The United States, under former president Donald Trump, left the nuclear deal in 2018, reimposing the sanctions that it had lifted.

Vienna has been hosting many rounds of talks since last year to examine the prospect of the deal’s restoration and fresh removal of economic bans.