Hassan Rouhani
Hassan RouhaniReuters

Iran is not looking for war with America, its President Hassan Rouhani told French President Emmanuel Macron in a phone call on Tuesday, Reuters reported, citing Iran’s ISNA news agency.

At the same time, Rouhani reportedly told Macron that if the United States violates Iran's territorial space again, as Iranian officials maintain a US drone did last week, it would be confronted.

"If the Americans want to violate the waters or airspace of Iran again, Iran's armed forces have a duty to confront them and they will have a decisive clash," Rouhani was quoted as having Macron, while also stressing that Iran will not renegotiate the 2015 nuclear deal.

Macron’s office said in a statement that the French President spoke by phone with Rouhani as part of a French initiative to prevent an escalation of tensions in the Middle East, but an Elysee official declined to give further details on the conversation.

The conversation between Rouhani and Macron took place hours after the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, said that Iran will take additional steps to decrease its commitments to the nuclear deal on July 7.

US President Donald Trump later warned Iran that "any attack on anything American will be met with great and overwhelming force.”

On Monday, Trump signed additional sanctions against Iran in response to the downing of the American drone last week. The sanctions target the leaders of the regime in Tehran, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as well as Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.