Macron rejects trade deals with countries outside Paris climate pact

French President Emmanuel Macron rejected on Tuesday said that
trade agreements will be contingent on membership in the Paris
climate pact, in a clear bid to pressure the United States.

“We will no longer sign commercial agreements with powers that
do not respect the Paris accord,” Macron told the U.N. General
Assembly without explicitly mentioning his U.S. counterpart Donald
Trump’s withdrawal from the global framework.

Macron also called for “dialogue and multilateralism” on Iran,
in a thinly veiled response to Trump’s push for tough, U.S.-led
sanctions.

Speaking shortly after Trump, the French leader credited the
2015 accord rejected by Trump with curbing the nuclear program of
Iran.

“What will bring a real solution to the situation in Iran and
what has already stabilized it? The law of the strongest? Pressure
from only one side? No!” Macron said.

“We know that Iran was on a nuclear military path but what
stopped it? The 2015 Vienna accord,” he said.

Trump has withdrawn from the seven-nation agreement negotiated
under his successor Barack Obama, calling it a “disaster” and
instead ramping up pressure on Iran including through renewed
sanctions.

Supported by Israel and Saudi Arabia, Trump has sought to roll
back Iranian influence around the Middle East including in
war-ravaged Syria.

But Macron said: “As I was saying a year ago, today we should
not aggravate regional tensions but rather through dialogue and
multilateralism pursue a broader agenda that allows us to address
all the concerns caused by Iranian policies — nuclear, ballistic,
regional.”