France Says 'Needs No Permission' for Iran Dialogue After Trump Swipe

France said Friday that it "needs no permission" to work towards easing tensions between Iran and the US, after President Donald Trump accused his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron of meddling in the dispute.

"On Iran, France speaks with complete sovereignty. It is working hard for peace and security in the region, it is working to facilitate a de-escalation in tensions and it needs no permission to do so," Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a statement.

In a tweet Thursday, Trump claimed that Iranian officials want "desperately to talk to the US, but are given mixed signals from all of those purporting to represent us, including President Macron of France."

"I know Emmanuel means well, as do all others, but nobody speaks for the United States but the United States itself. No one is authorized in any way, shape, or form, to represent us!" he said.

Trump has reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran after pulling out of an international deal aimed at curbing the country's nuclear ambitions.

But the European partners to the accord, including France, have resisted his attempts to isolate the Iranians.

Le Drian said the worsening tensions between Tehran and Washington, which have been blamed for attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf and downings of drones, called for initiatives to try to restore dialogue.

"That's what President Macron is doing, in full transparency with our partners, above all our European partners," he said, adding that Macron was "obviously keeping American authorities informed".

On Tuesday, the Al-Monitor news site reported that Macron, who speaks regularly by telephone with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, had invited Rouhani to attend the G7 summit in France on August 24-26 to meet with Trump.

The report, which cited two unidentified sources, said Rouhani had declined to attend or send a representative.

The French presidency has denied the report, saying Macron never put forward any such proposal.

After a call with Rouhani on Tuesday, the French leader, who has attempted to mediate in several disputes in North Africa and the Middle East, said it was France's role "to make every effort to ensure that all parties agree to a break and open negotiations."

The dispute with Iran is expected to be a major issue at the G7 summit in the southwestern city of Biarritz.

Paris has engaged in intense diplomacy to try to resolve the tensions, with Macron's foreign policy advisor Emmanuel Bonne twice visiting Tehran.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to visit Macron at his holiday retreat on France's Mediterranean coast on August 19 to discuss the Iranian situation, ahead of the G7 meeting.

Photo: French MFA

European Allies Spurn U.S. Effort to Protect Ships From Iran

By Nick Wadhams

Soaring tensions with Iran following attacks on tankers and drones prompted the Trump administration to call for a coalition of allies to protect ships passing through the Persian Gulf.

This week, U.S. partners including the U.K. and France essentially asked to be counted out.

Rather than signing on to the Trump administration’s “Operation Sentinel,” those countries want to establish a European maritime security initiative nearly identical to -- but separate from -- the American project. The split reflects just how uneasy key allies have become about the U.S. “maximum pressure” campaign toward Iran.

“The move to establish a European initiative is a clear signal that Europe is bending over backwards to dissociate itself from U.S. policy toward Iran,” said Jonathan Alterman, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Europe wants some real daylight.”

That thinking was echoed by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who said Europe wanted to take measures to clear the way for de-escalation of tensions with Iran.

“On the diplomatic front we want to create the conditions for inclusive regional talks on maritime security,” Le Drian said. “This is the opposite of the U.S. policy of maximum pressure.”

Trump administration officials have privately downplayed the dueling initiatives. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Wednesday he sees the efforts as “complementary.” But there is little question the European move presents new evidence of just how battered the so-called “special relationship” between the U.S. and the U.K., as well as Europe more broadly, has become.

Trump’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran has sparked frantic European efforts to keep that agreement alive. The U.S. continues tightening sanctions designed to choke off Iran’s economy in a bid to force it to the negotiating table and agree to what Trump says would be a stronger accord. Many countries see that approach -- not Iranian actions -- as the original source of rising tensions between the Tehran government and the West.

The biggest flashpoint has been over tanker traffic in the Persian Gulf, a critical passageway for global oil supplies.

Tanker Seizures

In May and June, a series of attacks on tankers were blamed by the U.S. and some allies on Iran, a charge officials in Tehran denied. In June, Iran shot down an American drone it said was over its territorial waters, prompting Trump to consider military strikes before ultimately backing down.

Then, following the U.K.’s seizure of a tanker carrying Iranian oil near Gibraltar, Iran last week seized the British ship Stena Impero. The U.K. has subsequently threatened “serious consequences” if the ship and its crew are not released.

In response, the U.S. deployed additional forces to the region and announced Operation Sentinel.

A senior State Department official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity when the initiative was announced last month, said the operation isn’t military in nature, but aimed at keeping track of Iran by equipping ships with more cameras and other observation equipment. It’s focused on observing ships, not escorting them, the person said.

Wary of Conflict

When European leaders announced their own proposal this week, they suggested they were wary of joining an American-led effort that could drag them into conflict, or associate them with a policy they don’t support.

Then-U.K. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Monday that the European maritime initiative was intended to reduce tensions while also sending a strong message to Iran to stop harassing ships in the region. Hunt was replaced on Wednesday by Dominic Raab after Prime Minister Boris Johnson took office.

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An administration official, asking not to be identified, said the U.S. would work with its partners and allies to safeguard freedom of navigation. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, speaking on Fox News before the announcement, made clear the U.S. wanted European nations to play a larger role protecting vessels.

“The responsibility in the first instance falls to the United Kingdom to take care of their ships,” he said.

Coordinating Efforts

Officials on both sides of the Atlantic say there will almost certainly be information sharing and other coordination and that the two initiatives could be merged. Yet for some European politicians, the irony of the split is too much to ignore. The U.K., where Johnson has vowed to press ahead with a split from the European Union, is so circumspect about American policy toward Iran that it would rather partner with other European nations than the Trump administration.

“Apparently a government that is attempting to exit the European Union is not willing to undertake military action with the U.S. but actually with the European Union, because they’re more comfortable with it,” German lawmaker Rolf Muetzenich said Wednesday.

Analysts argue that the separate efforts will only fuel confusion in an already volatile region even if the two maritime efforts eventually become one. They say it reflects a fear—which the U.S. denies—that the Trump administration is prepared to further escalate tensions with Iran.

“U.S. allies are increasingly concerned about participating in joint operations under American command,” said Adam Mount, director of the Defense Posture Project at the Federation of American Scientists. “If American allies lose faith that the U.S. is committed to peaceful resolution of the Iran issue, they won’t want to get caught up in an operation with an objective they don’t support.”

Photo: CENTCOM

French Envoy in Iran Talks as Trump Threatens to Up Sanctions

By Kay Armin Serjoie

French President Emmanuel Macron's top diplomatic advisor met with Iran's president Wednesday winding up a day of talks in Tehran aimed at saving a landmark 2015 nuclear deal and easing tensions between Tehran and Washington.

But as Emmanuel Bonne pressed the high-level talks, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to warn that US sanctions against Iran would soon be "increased substantially", charging Tehran had "long been secretly 'enriching'" uranium.

The 2015 accord between Iran and world powers, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), promised sanctions relief, economic benefits and an end to international isolation in return for stringent curbs on the Islamic republic's nuclear programme.

But Tehran says it has lost patience with perceived inaction by European countries more than a year after Trump unilaterally pulled the US out of the agreement and started to impose punishing sanctions.

In his meeting with Bonne, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said Tehran had "completely kept the path of diplomacy and talks open", according to a statement from his office.

He called on other parties to the deal to "completely implement their commitments" to keep it alive.

Bonne also met Rear-Admiral Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his deputy Abbas Araghchi.

His mission was "to try and open the discussion space to avoid an uncontrolled escalation, or even an accident", according to French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

Before meeting with Bonne, Zarif said "negotiations are never possible under pressure", in reference to US sanctions against Iran.

Pointing to the US withdrawal from the JCPOA, he added that the Europeans "must solve that problem."

‘Nuclear Extortion'

Bonne arrived in Tehran after Iran announced on Monday it had surpassed 4.5 percent uranium enrichment—above the 3.67 percent limit under the accord, though still far below the 90 percent necessary for military purposes.

Earlier this month, it was confirmed that Iran surpassed 300 kilogrammes of enriched uranium reserves, another limit that was imposed by the deal.

At Washington's request, the UN's nuclear watchdog held a special meeting Wednesday at its Vienna headquarters.

US delegate Jackie Wolcott told the gathering that Iran was engaged in "nuclear extortion".

Her Iranian counterpart Kazem Gharib Abadi hit back, calling it a "sad irony" that the meeting was convened at Washington's request and claiming the current standoff was a result of the US's "outlaw behaviour".

Russia's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mikhail Ulyanov, later tweeted that the US "was practically isolated on this issue".

In a joint statement, European parties to the deal Germany, France and Britain said their continued support for the accord "relies on Iran implementing its commitments".

But they added the "issues at hand should be addressed by participants to the JCPOA".

Ahead of the meeting, a source at the French presidency said "we are in a very critical phase. The Iranians are taking measures that are in violation (of the agreement) but (they) are very calibrated".

Iran Ends 'Strategic Patience'

After Washington withdrew from the JCPOA in May 2018, it reimposed stinging sanctions on Tehran, hitting the banking and oil sectors hard.

As the Iranian economy went into free fall, Iran demanded that the other parties—especially the Europeans—deliver promised economic benefits and help it bypass the US sanctions.

However, it became clear that this was no simple task, and Iran—whose economy depends heavily on oil exports—changed tack and indicated it would reshape its policy of "strategic patience".

In May, a year after Trump's withdrawal, Rouhani said Iran would roll back its commitments under the deal in stages every 60 days in an effort to force the other parties to deliver on their side of the bargain.

As tensions rose, the US dispatched a naval carrier, bombers and extra troops to the region to counter perceived threats from Iran.

Last month, Trump said he had called off a retaliatory military strike against Iran at the last minute after the Islamic republic shot down a US drone that it said had crossed into its airspace, a claim denied by Washington.

Trump re-upped the pressure Wednesday, claiming "Iran has long been secretly 'enriching'" uranium in violation of the accord.

"Remember, that deal was to expire in a short number of years. Sanctions will soon be increased, substantially!"

Photo: IRNA

Iran to Abandon More Nuclear Deal Commitments on July 7

Iran will "resolutely" abandon more commitments under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers on July 7, Fars News Agency reported on Tuesday quoting a "note" from a top security official.

Tehran had announced on May 8 that it was suspending two of its 2015 pledges and gave Europe, China and Russia a two-month ultimatum to help Iran circumvent US sanctions and sell its oil or it would abandon two more commitments.

Last year Washington withdrew from the landmark nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions on Tehran, and Europe's efforts so far to help Iran economically benefit from the accord have been dismissed by Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a "bitter joke.”

"As of July 7, Iran will forcefully take the second step of reducing its commitments" to the nuclear deal, Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, was quoted as saying by Fars.

This was so "countries who interpreted Iran's 'patience' with weakness and inaction realize that Iran's answer to the American drone's violation of its airspace will be no different than its reaction to devious political efforts to limit Iranian people's absolute rights," he added.

Amid escalating tensions last week, Iran shot down a US spy drone it said had crossed into its territory, a claim denied by the United States.

Russia, a key ally of Iran, on Tuesday backed Iran's version of events.

US President Donald Trump said he ordered retaliatory air strikes against Iran but pulled back at the last minute.

Shamkhani slammed Europe's "political insolence" for expecting Iran to continue its commitments without them fulfilling their end of the deal and said it showed a "lack of will" to face the US.

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Iran would be making a "serious mistake" if it violates the deal by through abandoning commitments.

In a joint statement on Monday, Britain, France and Germany said they were "committed to working hard for the full implementation of (the nuclear deal) and urge all sides to do the same."

Shamkhani in response said the E3 statement and "Trump's game of sanctions" were two sides of the same coin and that Europe has so far "paid no cost for saving" the deal.

In retaliation to the European inaction, Iran has begun to increase its enriched uranium and heavy water stockpile and is set to soon pass the limits set in the deal.

The second step would involve breaking past the 3.67 percent restriction on enriching uranium and restarting development of a heavy water reactor that was put on hold.

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