Zarif Leaves G7 Talks, Says Iran’s Active Diplomacy Continues
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s foreign minister made a flying visit for talks with host France at the G7 summit on Sunday, as Paris ramped up efforts to ease tensions between Tehran and Washington.
Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is under US sanctions, flew to the southwest French town of Biarritz where the Group of Seven leaders are meeting.
He held more than three hours of talks, including with French President Emmanuel Macron, before heading back to Tehran, Reuters reported.
“Iran's active diplomacy in pursuit of constructive engagement continues. Met @EmmanuelMacron on sidelines of #G7Biarritz after extensive talks with @JY_LeDrian & Finance Min. followed by a joint briefing for UK/Germany. Road ahead is difficult. But worth trying,” Zarif tweeted later.
“The discussions that were held between the president and Zarif were positive and will continue,” a French official said after the meeting, declining to take detailed questions.
European leaders have struggled to tamp down the brewing confrontation between the US and Iran since Trump pulled Washington out of the internationally-brokered 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.
Since pulling Washington out of the deal last year, Trump has pushed a maximum pressure policy to try to force Iran into a new negotiation that would include its ballistic missile program.
Trump’s European allies believe the nuclear deal must be upheld. Macron, who has taken the lead in Europe in trying to salvage the agreement and avert a deeper crisis in the Middle East, had already met Zarif in Paris on Friday.
They discussed proposals to de-escalate tensions between Washington and Tehran, including easing some US sanctions or providing Iran with an economic compensation mechanism to make up for oil revenues lost under US sanctions.
But despite Macron spending two hours with Trump over lunch on Saturday and all seven leaders discussing Iran at length in the evening, it did not appear that the US leader had budged on easing oil sanctions as Macron had sought from Trump.
A European diplomat familiar with the discussions said the leaders had failed at the dinner to persuade Trump.
Earlier on Sunday Trump appeared to brush aside French efforts to mediate with Iran, saying that while he was happy for Macron to reach out to Tehran to defuse tensions, the United States would carry on with its own initiatives.
Trump and Macron are scheduled to hold a joint news conference at 3:30 p.m. (1330 GMT) on Monday at the conclusion of the summit, the White House said.
Macron’s invitation to Zarif had caught Trump by surprise, a White House official said, and no US officials met with Zarif during the visit.
Other delegations also said they had been informed at the last minute. The Elysee said delegations had been informed, but everything had happened very quickly.
US authorities earlier this month placed Zarif under US sanctions.
