President Emmanuel Macron of France says he had an “excellent telephone discussion” with the U.S. President Donald Trump, concerning Iran, Syria and other issues.
Macron tweeted early on November 12, saying that he and Trump have agreed to meet before the NATO summit in December. He also underlined they have agreed on many issues.
Since at least July Macron has tried hard to broker negotiations between Washington and Tehran, to resolve the deadlock over Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. As well as it s role in the Middle East.
Excellent phone conversation tonight with @realDonaldTrump : Syria, Iran, NATO. Many convergences were underlined and we’ll meet ahead of the NATO summit in London.https://t.co/cbOYdz9rsV
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) November 11, 2019
In September, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Macron tried to arrange a summit between Trump and Iranian President Hasan Rouhani, who avoided the phone meeting.
Prior to talks in New York, Macron held many phone discussions with Rouhani, but the Iranian president is not the ultimate decision maker on foreign policy, which rests with the country’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Both Iran and the United States have their own reasons to want to break the deadlock. Iran is in a difficult economic situation and Trump can use a foreign policy accomplishment as U.S. elections approach.