French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that if he does not meet US President Donald Trump during the United Nation General Assembly, then it would be a loss opportunity.
In a three-way chat with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday, Macron told Rouhani that he should meet Trump as he will not come back in a few months, adding that the US president will not go to Tehran so they have to meet now.
The British PM echoed the French president and said, "I think I agree with Emmanuel. You need to be on the side of the swimming pool and jump at the same time." Macron has been endeavoring to set up a historic meeting between the two leaders whose nations have been enemies for four decades.
However, the Iranian president has demanded that the US must first lift the tough sanctions imposed on it before he will agree to a meeting with Trump.
Macron to Rouhani: If you leave the country without meeting with President Trump, honestly it would be a loss of opportunity.pic.twitter.com/yDfV2aQbOm
— Reza Khaasteh (@Khaaasteh) September 25, 2019
Earlier, Trump said he had not yet agreed to meet with Iran. Addressing the UNGA session, Trump said it was time for Iran leaders to step forward and stop threatening other countries.“America is ready to embrace friendship to all who genuinely seek peace and respect,” he said.
The US president also said that his administration was prepared to increase the sanctions pressure on Tehran until it no longer posed a threat to US and its allies.Following the attacks in Saudi Arabia's oil facilities, Trump has tightened economic sanctions on Iran and ordered more US troops to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
If the two sides meet, the meeting would be historic, the first in more than four decades between the leaders of the US and Iran.