Latest news with #Jean-Noel Barrot
Al Arabiya
3 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Summit on Palestinian statehood planned for September: Diplomatic source
International envoys will discuss a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at UN headquarters in New York this month, before national leaders meet in September, a French diplomatic source said Wednesday. A conference, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, was planned for June to revive a diplomatic path for Israeli and Palestinian states to live side-by-side in peace. It was postponed at the last minute because of Israel's military campaign against Iran. Last week, diplomatic sources said the conference had been rescheduled for July 28-29, but did not say who would attend. The French source said this month's meeting would be at ministerial level. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot would attend, his office said. It would seek to 'advance the recognition of a Palestinian state for a certain number of states who have not yet recognized it, including France,' the source said. But it would also work 'on normalization and Israel's regional integration with Arab and Muslim countries.' Heads of state and government would meet in either Paris or New York, before the UN General Assembly, which will be attended by world leaders on September 22, the source added. Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron called for joint recognition of a Palestinian state by France and Britain. Before the June conference was postponed, Barrot said France would not recognize a Palestinian state alone, in a possible reference to France's desire to see any recognition matched by Gulf Arab allies recognizing Israel. US President Donald Trump during his first term promoted the 'Abraham Accords' in which the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco became the first Arab countries in decades to normalize with Israel.
National Post
3 days ago
- Politics
- National Post
Summit on Palestinian statehood planned for September: diplomatic source
International envoys will discuss a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at UN headquarters in New York this month, before national leaders meet in September, a French diplomatic source said Wednesday. Article content The conference, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, was originally planned for mid-June to revive work on the long-standing diplomatic effort to find a way for Israeli and Palestinian states to live side-by-side in peace. Article content Article content Article content It was postponed at the last minute after Israel's military campaign against Iran. Article content Article content Last week, diplomatic sources said last week the conference had been rescheduled for July 28 and 29, but did not say who would attend. Article content The French source said Wednesday that the meeting would be at ministerial level. Article content It would seek to 'advance the recognition of a Palestinian state for a certain number of states who have not yet recognized it, including France,' the source said. Article content But it would also work 'on normalization and Israel's regional integration with Arab and Muslim countries.' Article content Heads of state and government would then meet in either Paris or New York, before the UN General Assembly, which will be attended by world leaders on September 22, the source added. Article content France's foreign ministry said Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot would attend the meeting. Article content Article content Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron called for joint recognition by France and Britain of a Palestinian state. Article content Article content Before the initial conference was postponed, Barrot said France would not recognize a Palestinian state alone, in a possible reference to the eagerness of Paris to see any French recognition matched by Gulf Arab allies — notably regional kingpin Saudi Arabia — recognizing Israel. Article content U.S. President Donald Trump near the end of his first term led promoted the 'Abraham Accords' in which the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco became the first Arab countries in decades to normalize with Israel. Article content
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Business
- Al Jazeera
France, UK, Germany to reimpose Iran sanctions in August if no progress
France, the United Kingdom and Germany will reinstate harsh sanctions on Iran by the end of August if no progress is made on a nuclear deal, Western diplomats and officials say. The economic penalties on Iran that were lifted under a 2015 agreement in return for allowing restrictions and monitoring of its nuclear programme would return by the end of next month 'at the latest' if there is no breakthrough, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters in Brussels on Tuesday. The deadline was announced as pressure mounts on diplomats to find a new solution to Iran's nuclear ambitions, which Tehran has reiterated are civilian in nature, in the wake of massive Israeli and United States strikes on the country last month. 'France and its partners are … justified in reapplying global embargoes on arms, banks and nuclear equipment that were lifted 10 years ago,' Barrot told reporters before a meeting with European Union foreign ministers in Brussels. 'Without a firm, tangible and verifiable commitment from Iran, we will do so by the end of August at the latest.' Snapback provision Under a so-called snapback provision in the 2015 deal, United Nations sanctions are able to be reimposed on Iran if Tehran does not comply with its requirements. The British, French and German ambassadors to the UN met on Tuesday to discuss reimposing the sanctions, The Associated Press news agency reported. The issue was also discussed in a phone call on Monday between the foreign ministers of the three countries and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations, told the agency. Iran's UN mission made no comment in response to the threat of returned sanctions, AP reported. But Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in recent days that the return of UN sanctions by the European signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal would 'end' Europe's role in the Iranian nuclear issue and as a mediator between Tehran and Washington. Iran open to US talks The US and Iran were engaged in extended negotiations over Tehran's nuclear programme before the Israeli strikes began in June and were joined in their latter stages with strikes by Washington. US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear agreement in 2018 during his first term in office, declaring it too weak on Iran. After the attacks in June, Iran suspended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors its nuclear programme. Araghchi said in recent days that Tehran would be prepared to resume nuclear talks with Washington as long as it provides 'a firm guarantee' that there would be no further attacks. He said the Israeli and US strikes have 'made it more difficult and complicated to achieve a solution'. In a statement published by the Iranian Students' News Agency, Iran's parliament said on Wednesday that the country should not restart nuclear negotiations with the US until conditions are met. The report did not say what the conditions were. Trump and his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, have said talks with Iran would happen soon, but nothing has been scheduled.
The Independent
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
France, UK and Germany would restore UN sanctions on Iran next month without progress on a deal
The United Kingdom, France and Germany have agreed to restore tough U.N. sanctions on Iran by the end of August if there has been no concrete progress on a nuclear deal, two European diplomats said Tuesday. The three countries' ambassadors to the United Nations met Tuesday at Germany's U.N. Mission to discuss a possible Iranian deal and reimposing the sanctions. The matter also came up in a phone call Monday between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of the three countries, according to two U.S. officials. The State Department said after the call that the four had spoken about 'ensuring Iran does not develop or obtain a nuclear weapon.' The officials and diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. The U.K., France and Germany are part of an agreement reached with Iran in 2015 to rein in its nuclear program, from which President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. during his first term, insisting it wasn't tough enough. Under the accord that lifted economic penalties on Iran in exchange for restrictions and monitoring of its nuclear program, a so-called 'snapback' provision allows one of the Western parties to reimpose U.N. sanctions if Tehran does not comply with its requirements. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Tuesday that the three European countries would be justified in reapplying sanctions. "With regard to Iran, the minister reiterated the priority of resuming negotiations to establish a long-term framework for Iran's nuclear program,'' the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. ''Without a verifiable commitment from Iran by the end of August at the latest, France, Germany and the U.K. will be justified in reapplying the UN sanctions (snapbacks) that were lifted 10 years ago.'' The diplomats did not provide details of the deal being sought. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in recent days that Tehran would accept a resumption of nuclear talks with the U.S. if there were assurances of no more attacks, following Israeli and U.S. strikes on its nuclear facilities. He said there should be 'a firm guarantee that such actions will not be repeated, stressing that 'the attack on Iran's nuclear facilities has made it more difficult and complicated to achieve a solution." The United States and Iran held several rounds of negotiations over the Iranian nuclear program before the Israeli strikes began in June. Trump and his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said last week that talks would happen soon, but nothing has yet been scheduled. Araghchi, whose country insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, said in a July 2 CBS interview that 'the doors of diplomacy will never slam shut.' Iran's U.N. Mission had no comment Tuesday on the threat of renewed sanctions if there is no deal. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said last week that the U.S. airstrikes so badly damaged his country's nuclear facilities that Iranian authorities still have not been able to access them to survey the destruction. Iran has suspended cooperation with the IAEA. ___ AP writers Matthew Lee in Washington and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.
Al Arabiya
4 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
US, allies agree August deadline for Iran nuclear deal: Report
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the UK agreed in a phone call on Monday to set the end of August as the de facto deadline for reaching a nuclear deal with Iran, Axios reported, citing three sources. If no deal is reached by that deadline, the three European powers plan to trigger the 'snapback' mechanism that automatically reimposes all UN Security Council sanctions that were lifted under the 2015 Iran deal, according to the Axios report. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday France, the UK and Germany will launch the UN snapback mechanism on Iran by the end of August at the latest if no concrete progress has been made on a nuclear deal by then. 'France and its partners are ... justified in reapplying global embargoes on arms, banks, and nuclear equipment that were lifted 10 years ago. Without a firm, tangible, and verifiable commitment from Iran, we will do so by the end of August at the latest,' Barrot told reporters ahead of a meeting with EU Foreign Ministers in Brussels. The 'snapback mechanism' is a process that would reimpose UN sanctions on Tehran under a 2015 nuclear deal that lifted the measures in return for restrictions on Iran's nuclear program. Iran said Monday it would react to any reimposition of UN sanctions over its nuclear program, without elaborating on what actions it might take.
