Global Geopolitical Series: Active Macron holds telephonic meetings with Iran and Russia in his bid to save JCPOA

French President Emmanuel Macron is turning out to be the most active global leader outside Iran in his bid to save the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), better known as the Iran Nuclear Agreement as he visited Washington to persuade President Trump in saving the nuclear Agreement that was forged between Iran and six world powers (Russia, China, France, United States, United Kingdom, and Germany) back in 2015. As part of the agreement, Iran vowed to scale back its nuclear ambition in exchange for sanctions relief. During his three-day visit to the US, the French president said Paris would not leave the Iran nuclear deal. He told the US Congress on the final day of his trip that the JCPOA was not addressing what all concerns, but stressed that the deal could not be ditched.

President Trump has been a fierce critique of the JCPOA and in October 2017 he refused to certify Iran’s compliance with the agreement and in January, when he signed the sanctions waiver on Iran, it was informed that the President, who needs to sign the waiver every 120 days, is signing it for the last time, which gave the concerned parties a 120-day window to re-negotiate the deal or parts of it. All other partners to the agreement have urged President Trump to keep signing the waiver as Iran has threatened to exit the agreement if the United States re-imposes its sanction.

After his visit to the United States, Macron held a telephonic meeting with Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on Sunday, who reportedly told to Macron that Iran wouldn’t accept any limitations on its nuclear program beyond what is committed under the agreement. Rouhani also emphasized that the deal is not up for renegotiations and added that the US stance against the JCPOA is a blatant violation of the agreement among the seven countries. Rouhani further stated that the fate of the JCPOA after 2025 will be determined by international law and Iran will not accept any limitations beyond its commitments.

After Macron’s telephonic meeting with the Iranian leader, the French leader also called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the situation with Iran and his visit to the United States. With regard to the call, Kremlin press service said that both the Presidents called for preserving the JCPOA and its full implementation.