Emmanuel Macron and President Hassan Rouhani of Iran on Sunday night agreed to work together to preserver the Iran nuclear deal, in a marked signal to the US.

Less than a week after the French president implored the White House to stick with the agreement during a state visit to the Washington, Mr Macron suggested that the deal could be widened.

In what appears to be the latest attempt to prevent Donald Trump scrapping the agreement, the Elysee Palace said Mr Macron proposed in an hour-long phone call with Tehran that discussions should close loop holes in the deal, which have angered the US president.

The Elysee said that Mr Macron raised "three additional, indispensable subjects" not covered by the current deal with Mr Rouhani, citing Tehran's ballistic missile programmes, its nuclear activities beyond 2025 and Iran's destabilising influence in the Middle East.

It comes after the UK, France and Germany jointly reaffirmed their commitment on Sunday to sticking with the deal, but said that there were "important elements that the deal does not cover, but which we need to address".