In a televised interview Saturday night, a few hours after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron held a phone conversation, Rouhani’s Chief of Staff Mahmoud Vaezi said the conversation lasted for two hours, but refused to go into detail about the content of the talks.
“Generally speaking, the conversation focused on banking, economic and political issues. It was a general package of topics and both sides are looking forward to its conclusion and final result,” Vaezi added.
During the conversation between Rouhani and Macron on Saturday, it was reported that the French side had praised Iran’s commitment to talks on how to resolve a standoff over its nuclear program, telling Rouhani that France would continue its efforts for de-escalation on Iran case.
Meanwhile, Rouhani had said European parties to the JCPOA had done little to save the nuclear deal from the impacts of the US sanctions, adding “If Europe fails to execute its obligations, Iran would take its third step in reducing JCPOA commitments.”
Vaezi then talked about the US’ foreign policy toward Iran, describing it as “haphazard”.
“There is no clear framework or principle in their remarks [regarding Iran]. But we in Iran have one single policy when it comes to the US and we are all in support of it, which is, as long as the US keeps up its hostility against Iran, there will be no chance for talks. If it changes its hostile position and lifts Iran’s sanctions, then the situation will be different,” he added.
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