Trump brushes off French outreach to Iran as foreign minister’s plane is spotted in Biarritz

Donald Trump brushes off French outreach to Tehran saying ‘I can’t stop people from talking’ as Iranian foreign minister’s plane is spotted in Biarritz

  • Donald Trump brushed off French outreach to Tehran on Sunday – saying he ‘can’t stop people from talking’ to one another 
  • Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s plane landed in Biarritz unexpectedly after Emmannuel Macron delivered invited him
  • It wasn’t clear whether Trump knew that Zarif was on his way beforehand
  • Asked about a proposal from Emmanuel Macron to lift a U.S. oil embargo as a starting point for nuclear talks, Trump said he supports his outreach 
  • Once Zarif’s presence in the city that’s hosting the G7 had been confirmed, Trump said of a possible meeting with the diplomat: ‘No comment’
  • Zarif is barred from setting foot in the United States by new Trump sanctions
  • Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin did not rule one out: ‘If Iran wants to sit down and negotiate, he would not set preconditions to those negotiations’

Donald Trump brushed off French outreach to Tehran on Sunday – saying he ‘can’t stop people from talking’ to one another – as Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s plane landed in Biarritz unexpectedly.

It wasn’t clear whether Trump knew that Zarif was on his way when he made the remark. A reporter had asked about a proposal from Emmanuel Macron to lift a U.S. oil embargo as a starting point for nuclear talks.

Asked in a later meeting, once Zarif’s presence in the city that’s hosting the G7 had been confirmed, if he’d be sitting down with him, Trump told press: ‘No comment.’ 

Donald Trump brushed off French outreach to Tehran on Sunday – saying he ‘can’t stop people from talking’ to one another – as Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s plane landed in Biarritz unexpectedly

Zarif made a surprise visit to the G7 summit in Biarritz but was not expected to meet Donald Trump or any other American officials, the French presidency said

Zarif made a surprise visit to the G7 summit in Biarritz but was not expected to meet Donald Trump or any other American officials, the French presidency said

While the U.S. president was announcing a trade agreement between the United States and Japan alongside the Japanese prime minister, his chief economic advisers were holding an impromptu briefing reporters.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin suggested that Trump could meet with Zarif before the summit’s conclusion. 

‘The president has said before that to the extent that Iran wants to sit down and negotiate, he would not set preconditions to those negotiations,’ he said after an appearance on Fox News from the press filing center. 

Having already been asked about private talks between leaders about Russian President Vladimir Putin and whether he’d be invited when the U.S. hosts the summit next year, Mnuchin said, ‘I’m not going to make any more comments about who’s here, and who’s not here, and what conversations may or may not be going on.’ 

The French government said that Zarif would not be attending the Biarritz summit or meeting with world leaders while he was in town. 

But Trump is unpredictable. At the end of June, he became the first U.S. president to set foot in North Korea, after he floated surprise talks. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk