Emmanuel Macron at G5 Sahel summit, June 30th 2020
Emmanuel Macron at G5 Sahel summit, June 30th 2020Reuters

Iran appeared Monday to dismiss an offer by France to mediate between the United States and the Islamic Republic in order to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.

"The nuclear deal has no need for a mediator," foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters, according to AFP.

While the spokesman did not specifically mention France, French President Emmanuel Macron last week offered to be an "honest broker" in talks between the US and Iran in order to revive the nuclear deal.

Former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 agreement nearly three years ago and reimposed sanctions on Iran. The Islamic Republic, in turn, has gradually scaled back its compliance with the 2015 deal.

Current President Joe Biden has expressed a desire to return to the 2015 agreement but has made clear he would return to the 2015 agreement if Iran returned to compliance with it.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif last week suggested that EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell head a Joint Commission and choreograph the actions to be taken by the US and Iran to return to the deal.

However, the State Department threw cold water on the proposal a day later, saying it was too early to accept it.

Khatibzadeh on Monday reiterated that Iran believes there is no need to renegotiate the nuclear deal.

"When a document is written with such precision and length it means that it is not necessary to discuss it again... It is all there in more than 150 pages," he said, according to AFP, echoing comments by top Iranian officials.