'I don't have plan B' Macron to hold CRUNCH TALKS with Trump over Iran nuclear deal

A senior US administration official said on Friday that the two presidents will discuss the Iran nuclear agreement at the White House on Tuesday. 

Mr Macron said: “I don’t have any plan B. Let’s present this framework because it’s better than the sort of North Korean-type situation,” before adding that he wants to “complete it” by addressing ballistic missiles and working to contain Iran’s influence in the region.

The French President has a “special relationship” with Mr Trump and that the US is still an indispensable player for achieving peace in the Middle East, adding that France will rely on the US in Syria once the conflict concludes. 

“Both of us are probably the maverick of the systems on both sides.

“President Trump’s election was unexpected in your country and probably my election was unexpected in my country.

“We will have to build a new Syria afterwards.”

The 2015 nuclear deal struck between Iran and six world powers – the US, UK, Russia, France, China and Germany – and lifted economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for imitations to the country’s controversial nuclear energy programme. 

It was agreed under the presidency of Barack Obama but since his election in 2016, Mr Trump has called it one of the worst deals ever negotiated, claiming it is too lenient and that Iran had broken parts of the agreement, including access to international inspectors.

Speaking to US television channel CBS, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned the US would be seen as an unreliable partnr to the international community if it pulls out of the deal. 

He added there would be no reason for Iran to remain in the deal if the US leaves and the benefits for Iran start to diminish.  

“This would be a very bad precedent if the United States sends this message to the international community that the length or the duration of any agreement would depend on the duration of the presidency,”

The US President will decide by May 12 whether to restore his nation’s economic sanctions on Iran, which would seen as a huge blow to the deal.  

The French president is also urging the US to continue their military intervention in Syria before a joint session of Congress this week. 

In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, broadcast the day before the French President arrives in Washington for a three-day state visit, Mr Macron said the US, France and other allies still have a “very important” role to play in rebuilding the war-torn country after they defeat state militants. 

US President Donald Trump wants his nation’s forces to leave Syria as quickly as possible but his French counterpart warned that Iran, which is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s most supportive ally, will overrun the country if they choose to do so. 

They will also hold talks about the joint military strike on Syria earlier this month following a suspected chemical weapons attack in the suburb of Douma near Damascus.