Macron on Iran nuclear deal: there is no 'Plan B'

France, 23 Apr 2018 [Fik/News Sources]: French President Emmanuel Macron, who is heading to Washington to urge his US counterpart to stay in the Iran nuclear deal, said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that there is no "Plan B" if the accord is scrapped.

"I don't have any Plan B for nuclear – against Iran," Macron told Fox News Sunday, in an English-language interview broadcast on the eve of his three-day state visit.

"So that's a question we will discuss, but that's why I just want to say, on nuclear – let's present this framework because it's better than the sort of North Korean type of situation,"

North Korea has developed and tested nuclear weapons as well as intercontinental ballistic missiles, posing a significant threat to global security.

US President Donald Trump is threatening to tear up the 2015 agreement aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear efforts unless European capitals agree to supplement it with tougher controls on Iran's missile programme and future ability to return to nuclear fuel enrichment.

Upping the rhetoric

Iran is upping the rhetoric in return – with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warning on Saturday that Tehran is ready to "vigorously" resume enrichment if the US ditches the nuclear accord.

Macron said he too supports efforts to curb Iran's ballistic missile programme, but that this does not require scrapping the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear accord.

"I'm not satisfied with the situation with Iran. I want to fight against ballistic missiles, I want to contain their influence in the region," he said.

"My point is to say don't leave now the JCPOA as long as you have not a better option for nuclear, and let's complete it with ballistic missile and regional containment."

Macron's comments came as foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations met in Toronto on Sunday seeking a common front against what they see as aggression from Vladimir Putin's Russia.