Both sides so far appear unwilling to compromise. The Iranian New Year this week and campaigning for the country's presidential election in June are also likely to complicate matters.
"Iran must make the expected gestures and behave in a responsible way," Macron added.
Macron said the efforts would focus on combatting the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM) and in particular one of its main armed groups, Katiba Macina.
"I have just spoken president Macron. We had a very good call and we both understand each other's positions and want to resolve these problems as fast as possible," Johnson told a news conference.
"It was an excellent conversation with the French president: he stressed he was keen I would say to sort it out in the next few hours if we can," Johnson said.