Trump Says US, France on Same Page With Regard to Iran

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States and France share the common objective that Iran cannot obtain nuclear weapons despite French President Emmanuel Macron's recent comment that he regretted Washington's decision to pull out of the international nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic.

"I don't think we have differences over Iran. I don't think that the president wants to see nuclear weapons and neither do I ... and they won't have nuclear weapons", Trump said during a joint press encounter with Macron in northern France.

Trump said that when he took office in January 2017, Iran was the "undisputed champion of terror," but the "powerful sanctions" changed that behavior.

"If they want to talk that's fine, we'll talk. But the one thing they can't have is they can't have nuclear weapons", Trump said.

Macron agreed with Trump, saying France shares the view that Iran can't be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons.

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In addition to prohibiting Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, the French president outlined three other objectives in with regard to Iran: reducing its ballistic testing, containing its regional activities and create peace in the region.

"We need to open a new negotiation in order to [achieve] these four objections", Macron said.

The United States decided to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2018. The decision has been criticized by other signatories of the accord — China, France, Germany, Iran, the European Union, Russia and the United Kingdom.