The US leader recently said no one is allowed to speak to Iran on behalf of Washington, as he accused the French centrist of sending “mixed signals” to Tehran over possible talks. IRNA quoted Mr Zarif as saying during a meeting in Stockholm late Monday as saying he will “visit Paris on Friday to meet Emmanuel Macron and France’s foreign minister”. Mr Zarif is currently on a three-nation tour of Scandinavia and will also travel to China “next week,” IRNA said. Norway and France are next on his agenda. 

“America’s sanctions are not pressuring me,” Mr Zarif said, brushing off concerns that US sanctions slapped against him late July were hobbling his diplomacy efforts. 

The sanctions against Mr Zarif block any property or interests he has in the United States, but Iran’s top diplomat says he has none. 

Washington’s major European allies Britain, France and Germany have clashed with US President Donald Trump over Iran since last year, when he unilaterally pulled out of an international deal to give Iran access to world trade in return for curbs to its nuclear programme. 

France has led European efforts to save the accord, which has teetered on the brink of collapse since the Trump administration reimposed sanctions on Tehran designed to halt its oil exports and thereby choke off its main source of revenue. 

While the deal’s European signatories say they share US concerns about Iran’s regional behaviour and missile programme, they have openly condemned the US exit. 

Responding to the sanctions – as well as perceived passivity by Europeans to circumvent the measures –, Iran said in May it would stop observing restrictions of enriched uranium and heavy water agreed under the 2015 deal. 

It has since threatened to take further measures unless the deal’s remaining signatories, which include China and Russia, help it sell its oil. 

Mr Macron has repeatedly tried to convince Mr Trump to lift some of the sanctions and hold talks with Iran to help defuse the crisis. 

Mr Trump, however, has been irked by the French leader’s efforts to resolve the situation, accusing him earlier this month of sending “mixed signals” to Tehran over possible talks. 

“Iran is in serious financial trouble. They want desperately to talk to the US, but are given mixed signals from all of those purporting to represent us, including President Macron of France,” he wrote in an angry Twitter post. 

“I know Emmanuel means well, as do all others, but nobody speaks for the United States but the United States itself,” he continued. 

France in turn said it did not need the permission of other states to try to defuse tensions with Tehran. 

“France is deeply committed to peace and security in the region, is committed to de-escalating tensions and does not need any authorisation to do so,” Mr Le Drian said in a statement. 

While it was not immediately clear what prompted Mr Trump’s online rant, it has been linked to a media report published early August that said Mr Macron had invited Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to this weekend’s G7 summit to meet the US leader.   

A French diplomat has since dismissed the report, denying the invitation had ever been made. 

Fears are escalating of a Middle East conflict with global repercussions as relations between the US and Iran continue to deteriorate at an alarming pace.  

Iran will be a hot-button topic at the two-day summit in the southwestern French town of Biarritz, with world leaders expected to look at ways to end the bitter stand-off.  

The Trump administration has previously said the US leader is open to talks with Iran, and that Washington does not want to go to war. 

Source: Read Full Article