Emmanuel Macron
Emmanuel MacronReuters

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday offered to be an "honest broker" in talks between the United States and Iran in order to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.

"I will do whatever I can to support any initiative from the US side to re-engage in a demanding dialogue, and I will... try to be an honest broker and a committed broker in this dialogue," Macron told the Atlantic Council think-tank, according to AFP.

"We have to find a way to involve in these discussions Saudi Arabia and Israel because they are some of the key partners of the region directly interested by the outcomes with our other friends of the region," added the French President.

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 and recently told The New York Times that he would return to the 2015 agreement if Iran returned to compliance with it.

Earlier this week, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif 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.

"If Iran comes back into full compliance with its obligations under the JCPOA, the United States would do the same," the State Department's new spokesman, Ned Price, told reporters.

Iran has repeatedly made clear that it will not renegotiate the original agreement. Zarif just last week urged Biden to "choose a better path" by returning to the 2015 deal and warned that the opportunity would be lost if Washington insists on further Iranian concessions up front.