Talks on a new Iran deal will need to have the participation of countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia, French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday.
“Dialogue with Iran will be rigorous, and they will need to include our allies in the region for a nuclear deal, and this includes Saudi Arabia,” Macron told Al Arabiya while speaking to reporters in Paris.
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Macron also noted that there needed to be trust and confidence with Saudi Arabia, and “they need to be included in any [potential] agreement with Iran.”
The French president said it was necessary to refrain from making the same mistakes made in 2015 when the first Iran nuclear deal was signed, one of which was distancing regional powers from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
As for a new deal, Macron said the time remaining before Iran creates a nuclear weapon was “very short.”
Renewed discussions over a new nuclear pact have come to the fore since Joe Biden was elected as the new US president. Biden was the vice president under Barack Obama when the JCPOA was signed in 2015.
But President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the deal and began what became known as the “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.
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Last Update: Friday, 29 January 2021 KSA 18:51 – GMT 15:51
