Paris (AFP) – French President Francois Hollande and U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday jointly urged Iran to accept a deal presented by world powers on its nuclear program, Hollande’s office said.
In a statement issued after a call between the two leaders, they also expressed support for the text of an agreement put forward by world powers at recent talks in Geneva.
“The two heads of state expressed their shared determination to obtain from Iran every guarantee that it will finally give up its military nuclear program,” the statement said.
Hollande and Obama “confirmed their full support for the text agreed” by the P5+1 group of world powers at this weekend’s talks, which they said forms “the basis for a serious, solid and credible agreement.”
“Now it is up to Iran to give a positive answer,” the statement said.
In its own statement, the White House said the two leaders were in “full agreement” on the “unified proposal” put forward by world powers in the P5+1 group.
“They consider the P5+1 proposal to be a sound step toward assuring the international community that Iran’s nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful,” the White House said.
The statement also highlighted Washington’s close relationship with Paris, after reports it was opposition from France that scuttled a deal with Iran.
“The United States deeply values its relationship with France, including as NATO allies, and we will continue to consult closely on global security,” the White House said.
Iran and world powers failed to agree a deal on Tehran’s disputed nuclear program at talks in Geneva at the weekend but are planning to meet again on November 20 for further negotiations.
Western diplomatic sources say the two sides were close to a deal, but that Iran backed away because it was unhappy with some of the wording in the text presented by the six powers.
The P5+1 is made up of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — plus Germany.
They have been negotiating with Tehran for years over its nuclear program, which some suspect is aimed at developing a nuclear weapon — a claim Iran vehemently denies.
