France’s President Emmanuel Macron held a discussion with Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, according to media reports which have been making waves online and on pro-Iranian and Iranian state media.
Macron warned his Iranian counterpart about the consequences of delivering drones to Russia, Macron's office said on Saturday. In a phone call, Macron also expressed concerns about the trajectory of the Iranian nuclear program, the statement said.
According to the reports at Tasnim News, the conversation lasted 90 minutes. The presidents agreed to promote relations between the countries, Iran’s pro-regime Tasnim media said.
Mehr News, which is also pro-Iranian regime, said that the deputy head of Iran's Presidential Office for Political Affairs Mohammad Jamshidi on Saturday announced on his Twitter account that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has held a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron.
According to this report, “the two sides discussed how to promote relations, especially regarding ongoing negotiations and regional developments,” and they agreed on a “roadmap for engagement.”
French-Iran leaders phone call comes as Macron appoints Lebanon envoy
The important conversation comes as Macron has also appointed an envoy to Lebanon to help work to mediate the crisis there over the lack of a new president. French President Emmanuel Macron named his former foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian as his personal envoy for Lebanon, last week. In addition, it comes after reports that US official Brett McGurk, who is US President Joe Biden's senior Middle East adviser, went to Oman to discuss developments regarding Iran.
The length of the conversation, some 90 minutes according to the reports, will raise eyebrows in the West regarding discussions between Iran and the West and the possibilities for the US to return to some kind of an Iran deal. In recent weeks there have been rumors about progress between the US and Iran on some sort of arrangement, however, there are also numerous sanctions against Iran for its supply of drones to Russia.
Iran continues also to conduct missile tests, threatening the region. It also threatens ships in the Persian Gulf. Iran has also appeared to push for increased attacks on US forces in Syria.
Reuters contributed to this report.