French President Emmanuel Macron has stated to his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi that the historic 2015 agreement on Tehran’s nuclear capabilities was “still possible” must be revived “as soon as possible”.
On Saturday, according to a statement from the French presidency, Macron expressed displeasure over the lack of progress following the suspension of talks in Vienna and emphasized the need for Iran to rejoin the agreement and carry out its nuclear commitments.
According to the Iranian presidency, during his two-hour talk with Macron, Raisi “condemned the unconstructive views and actions of the United States and European countries”.
An Iranian official had stated last week that although Tehran had the technical ability to create a nuclear bomb, it had not made the decision to do so.
According to the Iranian Foreign Ministry, there had been “no change” in Iran’s nuclear strategy, citing an Islamic ruling that prohibited “weapons of mass destruction”.
The French president’s phone call to Raisi comes as talks between Iran and international powers, including the United States, have not been progressing as talks have stopped in Vienna since March.
The 2015 agreement sought prevent Iran from acquiring the ability to build an atomic weapon in exchange for lifting sanctions that have hurt Iran’s economy.
However, since the United States unilaterally left the agreement in 2018 and reinstituted sanctions, Tehran started to walk away from its pledges.
In an effort to re-launch diplomatic efforts in Vienna, Qatar held indirect talks between the United States and Iran in June.
However, the negotiations were cut short after two days without any progress.
