Iranian and French presidents discuss nuclear deal on phone

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Monday urged the remaining signatories to its 2015 nuclear agreement to act to save the pact, although France’s leader called again for broader talks on Tehran’s missile program and its role in the Middle East region.

In a phone call to French President Emmanuel Macron, Rouhani said Iran wanted the Europeans to give guarantees on banking channels and oil sales as well as in the field of insurance and transportation, according to the state-run Iranian news agency IRNA.

“Iran has acted upon all its promises in the nuclear agreement and, with attention to the one-sided withdrawal of America … expects the remaining partners to operate their programs more quickly and transparently,” Rouhani said.

Rouhani was speaking in the light of US sanctions reimposed by Washington after President Donald Trump in May pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

Macron reiterated France’s commitment to maintaining the accord, a remark aimed at soothing Tehran. But he repeated his earlier calls for broader discussions with all relevant parties that would include Iran’s nuclear program after 2025, its ballistics program and its influence in the wider Middle East region.

The lawsuit

Separately, the US on Monday said it will fight Iran before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, after Tehran brought to the court demands to lift US sanctions.

Mohsen Mohebi, representative of Iran, is pictured during the opening of a case between Iran and the United States at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Aug. 27, 2018.

“Iran’s filing with the ICJ is an attempt to interfere with the sovereign rights of the United States to take lawful actions…The proceedings instituted by Iran are a misuse of the court,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

The Iran side condemned the US for “naked economic aggression” in the first session of the case.

The measures have had “immediate damaging consequences on Iran and the Iranian people,” Mohsen Mohebi, the lawyer representing Tehran said.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly condemned the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and withdrew from it in May.

Under the deal, Iran promised to limit its nuclear activities, under the UN monitoring, and in exchange, it will lift the UN Security Council sanctions as well as multilateral and national sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear program.

(REUTERS)