The 2015 nuclear deal was meant to stop Iran from further development of nuclear weapons. The U.S., Britain, France and Germany are working on a plan to meet Trump’s May 12th deadline for addressing Iran’s ballistic missile tests and its regional meddling.

The signatories to the nuclear deal want to preserve it, especially since nothing better had been offered, according to Macron, who added that the use of Iranian-linked missiles in Yemen and Syria needs to be addressed because they were a security problem for French allies.

Macron told reporters late on Tuesday, “I want a new cycle of negotiations with regional parties and the permanent members of the Security Council, like we did for the nuclear deal, but widening it to regional countries so that we can reduce and eradicate this insecurity.” He continued, “And (we need) to put Iran under surveillance over its ballistic missiles. It’s indispensable for the security of the region and so we need a mechanism of sanctions and control adapted to that.”

Iran claims that its nuclear work is for purely peaceful purposes, but has refused to discuss its missile program, as the United States and the Europeans have requested.

On February 8th, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that the West must ensure that the nuclear deal succeeds before attempting to negotiate other issues.

Macron cited Iranian influence in Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen, when he pointed out that Tehran’s foreign policy “can sometimes be a factor of destabilisation and we need to have a dialogue with the Iranian regime.” He added, “I think all forms of military solution to this situation are an error. We’ve lost too much time on the ballistics and on regional activities.”

These remarks by Macron follow the recent downing of an Israeli warplane returning from a bombing raid on Iran-backed positions in Syria.

The French foreign minister travels to Tehran on March 4th. He wants to organize a meeting of the main players in the Syrian crisis. “I want that we have in the coming weeks a meeting on Syria that eradicates the ballistic activities in Syria that puts in danger all the regional powers,” he said.