France, US tell Iran still chance to avoid nuclear sanctions

UNITED NATIONS — French President Emmanuel Macron and a U.S. envoy said Wednesday that Iran still had a last chance to avoid deep U.N. sanctions if it addresses concerns on its nuclear program.

France, Britain and Germany have set the clock through the U.N. Security Council to reimpose sweeping sanctions at the end of Saturday on Iran, which they say has not cooperated on the long-running nuclear row.

Macron met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly and urged him to reverse a series of steps taken by Tehran following an Israeli and U.S. attack in June.

Iran must allow full access to U.N. nuclear inspectors, immediately resume nuclear negotiations and offer transparency on highly enriched uranium whose whereabouts have been the subject of speculation, Macron said.

"An agreement remains possible. Only a few hours are left. It's up to Iran to respond to the legitimate conditions we have raised," Macron wrote on X after meeting Pezeshkian.

Steve Witkoff, Trump's real-estate friend and roving envoy who had been negotiating with Iran until Israel attacked, said without further elaboration that he was still in touch with Iran.

Witkoff said that Iran was in a "tough position" ahead of the return of the so-called snapback sanctions.

"I think that we have no desire to hurt them. We have a desire, however, to either realize a permanent solution and negotiate around snapbacks," Witkoff told the Concordia summit on the sidelines of the General Assembly.

"If we can't, then snapbacks will be what they are. They're the right medicine," Witkoff said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Tuesday with his European counterparts, leading to no clear progress other than an agreement to keep talking.