Trump swats at Macron for Iran diplomacy

August 9, 2019 - 21:31

President Donal Trump on Thursday accused French President Emmanuel Macron of sending “mixed signals” to Iran, Politico reported.

“Iran is in serious financial trouble. They want desperately to talk to the U.S., but are given mixed signals from all of those purporting to represent us, including President Macron of France,” Trump wrote on Twitter.

“I know Emmanuel means well, as do all others, but nobody speaks for the United States but the United States itself,” Trump continued. “No one is authorized in any way, shape, or form, to represent us!”

The president’s posts follow reports that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has shared several phone conversations with Macron in recent weeks seeking to tamp down tensions surrounding the 2015 nuclear deal and the rising tension in the Persian Gulf.

A French diplomat on Wednesday denied a report that Rouhani had declined a proposal from Macron to meet Trump at the G-7 summit in France later this month, emphasizing that Rouhani had not been invited to the forum of world leaders.

The nuclear pact’s European partners — France, Germany and the United Kingdom — have sought to salvage the agreement as Iran has steadily stepped away from its provisions in response to the return of sanctions. Iran has said the U.S. must lift all sanctions on Iran if it wants to enter negotiations with Iran.

In his phone call with Macron on Tuesday, Rouhani said oil export and banking transactions are the “most important economic rights of Iran”.

Rouhani insisted on the need to explore “expert and fair solutions” to salvage the nuclear deal from collapsing.

During the phone call, Macron, for his part, reiterated France’s commitments to stand by the nuclear deal and to try to find a solution that could both benefit Iran and be accepted by all sides to the agreement.

The Iranian president also touched upon a recent escalation in the Persian Gulf region where the United States is seeking to form a military coalition to allegedly police the Strait of

Hormuz, saying the move was a clear provocation at a time when countries like Iran and France were doing their utmost to deescalate the situation.

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