French President Emmanuel Macron | Pool photo by Philippe Wojazer/AFP via Getty Images Macron: ‘I told Trump not to tear up Iran deal’ French president says he told US leader that getting tougher with Iran is ‘wrong approach.’

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday he told U.S. President Donald Trump not to tear up a nuclear arms deal with Iran, as doing so could lead to a standoff similar to the one with North Korea.

"What I told him was not to tear up the deal," Macron told TF1 and LCI in his first live TV interview since taking office. "After that I told him, let's have a demanding dialogue, let's continue to conduct checks, but let's be much more demanding with Iran on its ballistic activity."

Trump has stopped short of withdrawing the United States from an international accord signed with Iran in 2015, which seeks to ensure that Tehran will cease activities leading to the development of nuclear arms in exchange for a lifting of economic sanctions.

But the U.S. president, in a speech last Friday, stated that he would not certify the deal, and asked Congress to pass new legislation to toughen sanctions against the regime.

France and the European Union have criticized Trump's threat to withdraw from the Iran deal, arguing that the United States should not act unilaterally to jeopardize a deal that was negotiated by multiple powers.

Asked whether he thought Trump was "dangerous" or "unpredictable," Macron did not give a direct answer. "I speak constantly to the U.S. president because it's my duty," Macron said.

"He is the president of the (world's) first power, so it's important to anchor him in this partnership, in this multilateral approach," he said.

Macron, who welcomed Trump in Paris during Bastille Day celebrations in Paris last July, added that Trump "wants to get tougher with Iran. I told him I thought this was the wrong approach because we have to look where we are now with Korea."