What's at stake if U.S. scraps Iran deal? Another North Korea crisis, French president says

Owen Ullmann | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Iranian president calls Trump's U.N. speech 'ignorant and hateful' Iranian President Hassan Rouhani: "it will be a great pity if this agreement were to be destroyed by rogue newcomers to the world of politics."

NEW YORK — French President Emmanuel Macron urged President Trump Wednesday to stick with the Iran nuclear deal despite his strong misgivings because "what else do we have? We would be put in the North Korea situation."

Macron told a group of editors and reporters here, where he is attending the U.N. General Assembly, that without the current agreement curbing Iran's nuclear program, Tehran would be able to rush ahead with a nuclear weapons program the way North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un is, creating a new international crisis.

Macron, who has met several times with Trump including at the United Nations, has developed a friendship with the American leader. "I'm extremely direct and he's extremely direct," Macron said.

"You want to kill it (Iran nuclear agreement) because it is an Obama agreement ... but what else do we have?" Macron said he told Trump during their conversation Tuesday. "I think he is sympathetic."

However, in his speech to the U.N. Tuesday and in earlier remarks Trump assailed the nuclear deal as an "embarrassment to the United States." Trump also hinted that he was preparing to walk away from the 2015 agreement, perhaps in the coming weeks.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who also met with Macron, said in his U.N. speech Wednesday that the U.S. would “destroy its own credibility” by quitting the nuclear deal forged under former President Barack Obama.

Trump faces an Oct. 15 deadline to tell Congress whether he intends to re-certify the Iran deal or get rid of it.

More: Trump says he's made a decision on Iran nuclear deal – but won't reveal what it is

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More: Iran's Rouhani plays the moderate compared to brash Trump at UN

Macron said he tried to convince Trump not to try to modify or kill the nuclear agreement that Iran reached with the U.S., France, and four other world powers. Rather, Macron said he urged Trump to consider a way to seek a broader strategy in dealing with Iran that includes ways to halt Iran's ballistic missile tests, not covered by the agreement, and contain Iranian influence in the Middle East.

He said that world powers should open negotiations with Iran now on extending the nuclear deal after it expires in 2025. Macron added that one way to limit Iran's power in the Middle East is to bring peace to Syria, where Iranian forces are helping President Bashar Assad win a six-year civil war.

"My strategy for Iran is to have a broader strategy," Macron said.