French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday urged his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi to “immediately end” Tehran’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by supplying Moscow with drones, the Élysée said.
Macron in a telephone call underlined the serious “security and humanitarian consequences” of Iran’s drone deliveries “and urged Tehran to immediately end the support it thus gives to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine”, the Elysee said.
The two leaders also discussed ways to promote ties, state media reported. “The 2 sides discussed how to promote relations, esp about ongoing negotiations & regional developments,” IRNA state news agency quoted Raisi’s deputy chief of staff Mohammad Jamshidi as saying in a tweet in English.
“They agreed on a roadmap for engagement,” Jamshidi added, saying that the call lasted 90 minutes.
A 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and world powers gave the Islamic republic relief from international sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.
But in 2018 the United States withdrew unilaterally from the deal and reimposed sanctions, prompting Tehran to suspend implementing its own commitments to restrict nuclear activity including uranium enrichment.
Efforts to revive the deal have been fruitless so far.
Roger Barake, avec AFP
