Iran rejects Macron’s call for new nuclear deal

Iran on Saturday dismissed the French president's remarks on the need for a new nuclear deal with Tehran.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said the nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, is "a multilateral international agreement that has been endorsed and stabilized by the (UN) Security Council Resolution 2231. It is by no means re-negotiable, and its parties are also definite and unchangeable."

He urged Emmanuel Macron to exercise self-restrain and refrain from hasty and ill-advised stances.

Macron said Friday that Saudi Arabia should be involved in negotiations regarding the nuclear deal.

"If the French officials are worried about the huge arms sales to the Persian Gulf Arab states, they had better revise their policies," said Khatibzadeh.

"The French arms, along with other Western weapons, have not only massacred and killed thousands of Yemenis, but are also the main reason behind instability in the Persian Gulf region," he said. "Without a halt to the flood of arms exports from France, the UK, the US and others, one cannot expect stability and calm in this delicate region."

Khatibzadeh noted that the US withdrew from the deal and Europe failed to maintain it.

He said if the nuclear deal is to be saved, the US should return and lift all sanctions which had been imposed on Tehran during the tenure of former US President Donald Trump.

* Writing by Dilan Pamuk in Ankara