Paris: President Emmanuel Macron will separately meet his US and Iranian counterparts, Donald Trump and Hassan Rouhani, during the UN General Assembly in New York next week, the French presidency said Wednesday.
Macron will meet Trump on Monday afternoon before having dinner with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. On Tuesday, the French president will address the assembly and hold talks with Rouhani, an Elysee Palace official said.
The meetings come as Macron and other European leaders try to salvage a landmark 2015 accord to curb Tehran’s nuclear programme, which Trump pulled the US out of last May.
Trump has signalled that he might be willing to meet with Rouhani as well, after re-imposing sanctions against Iran last month.
A new round of even harsher sanctions is set to go into effect in November targeting Iran’s vital oil sector.
The sanctions have hit Iran’s economy hard since foreign companies can no longer operate in the country without running the risk of being targeted by US penalties.
The US accuses Iran of destabilising the Middle East by pursuing missile development and its intervention in conflicts in neighbouring countries, including Syria and Yemen.
Iranian officials have repeatedly indicated they have no plans to hold talks with Trump when the general debate opens at the assembly on Tuesday.
