New York (IP) - Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and French President Emmanuel Macron held talks at the sideline of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Iran PressAmerica: Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi left Tehran for New York on Monday morning to attend the 77th UN General Assembly.

President Raisi delivered a speech on Monday afternoon at the Transforming Education Summit organized by UNESCO.

According to a report by Reuters, French President Emmanuel Macron and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi held face-to-face talks on Tuesday.

In the meeting with his French counterpart on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Ebrahim Raisi said that the improvement of Iran's relations with Europe depended on the independence of the countries of this continent from the will and opinion of the United States, and explained the conditions for achieving a fair and stable agreement from the perspective of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Raisi emphasised that Iran is ready to reach a fair and stable agreement, and called the achievement of this agreement dependent on reassuring guarantees and the closing of Iran's safeguard cases, and said, "The level of cooperation and relations between Iran and France can be promoted, while Europe must show in practice that its policies are independent and not subject to the will and policy of the United States."

In the meeting, the President referred to the withdrawal of the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and the violation of its obligations, as well as the failure of the Europeans to fulfill their obligations in order for Iran to enjoy the economic benefits of the agreement and added, "Despite the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the agreement and the resulting damages, the desire of the Islamic Republic of Iran to receive reassuring guarantees is a completely reasonable and logical demand."

Raisi described Iran's open cases in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as a serious obstacle to reaching an agreement and said: "The Agency's approach to issues should be technical and away from the pressures and suggestions of others, and we believe that without the closure of Iran's cases, it is not possible to reach an agreement."

Criticizing the request for a resolution at the Board of Governors against Iran by three European countries at the same time as the nuclear negotiations were ongoing, Raisi described these approaches as unconstructive that causing the issues to become more complicated, and added: "The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), with its monitoring and inspections, has officially confirmed 15 times that Iran's activities are based on its commitments and far from deviation."

The President described the Agency's dual approach to the destructive nuclear activities of the Zionist Regime as a sign of politicization. In another part of his speech, Raisi called Iran's regional activities peace-making and a factor in preventing the spread of terrorism to Europe and said: "The fact that you are holding elections peacefully in France today is due to the efforts of the Islamic Republic of Iran in destroying terrorism in the region."

In this meeting, Macron made suggestions for the ongoing negotiations and said: "It is a fact that, while the Agency announced that Iran had fully fulfilled its obligations, the United States withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018, and the European parties failed to fulfil their obligations regarding Iran's use of the economic benefits of the agreement."

The French President described it as necessary to continue the progress in the nuclear agreement and said: "Iran and the IAEA are able to solve the existing cases by working together, and we will not put political pressure on the IAEA in this regard."

By inviting the President of Iran to visit France, Mr. Macron added, "We can increase our cooperation on developing bilateral relations and economic and regional issues."

The talk was Raisi’s first head-to-head meeting with the French president since he was elected last year.

Earlier today, The Élysée Palace said Macron would meet President Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York and with US President Joe Biden the next day.

The meeting comes amid efforts by the EU to revive the 2015 nuclear talks, which despite notable progress, the US indecisiveness and procrastination caused multiple interruptions in the marathon negotiations.

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