French and Iranian presidents meet amid nuclear talks stalemate

French President Emmanuel Macron held face-to-face talks with his Iranian counterpart President Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday with the French leader saying he hoped to be able to “discuss all subjects”.

The meeting is Raisi's first head-to-head with a major Western leader since he was elected last year.

It comes amid a complete stalemate to revive the 2015 nuclear talks and as protests grow in Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, who fell into a coma and died after her arrest in Tehran last week by the morality police for “unsuitable attire”.

France said on Monday that there would not be a better offer for Iran to revive a nuclear deal with world powers and it was up to Tehran to make a decision now. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who coordinates the talks, said he saw little chance of progress at the United Nations General Assembly.

Months of indirect talks between Iran and the US have foundered over several issues, including Tehran's insistence the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) close an investigation into uranium traces found at three undeclared sites before the pact is revived, and a US guarantee that Washington would not walk out of any nuclear agreement again.