Iran Nuclear Deal Must Be Preserved, Macron Tells Netanyahu

French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech as part of the traditional epiphany cake ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, January 12, 2018. Credit: Reuters/Christophe Archambault/Pool

Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and pressed the importance of maintaining Iran's nuclear accord, the Elysee Palace said on Saturday.

"The president spoke of the importance of preserving the Iran nuclear deal, and the necessity for all parties to the agreement to respect the commitments they made," the Elysee statement said.

The telephone exchange took place on Friday, but it was not immediately clear whether it came before or after US President Donald Trump gave the nuclear deal a final reprieve whilst warning European allies they had to work with him to "fix the terrible flaws" of the pact or face US withdrawal.

Iran says its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes and that it will stick to the accord as long as the other signatories respect it but will "shred" the deal if Washington pulls out.

Macron says he wants an “uncompromising” dialogue with Iran about its ballistic missile program and he told Netanyahu that efforts concerning Iranian ballistics as well as its regional activities should continue.

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