Macron backs U.S.-Iran dialogue, floats himself as 'honest broker'

"I will do whatever I can to support any initiative from the U.S. side to reengage a ... dialogue and I will be here ... I was here, and available two years ago and one and a half (years) ago, to try to be an honest broker and a committed broker in this dialogue." (Reporting By Arshad Mohammed Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday welcomed the U.S. willingness to engage with Iran, offered himself as an honest broker on the nuclear issue and said Saudi Arabia and Israel must ultimately be involved somehow.

"We do need to finalize, indeed, a new negotiation with Iran," Macron told the Washington-based Atlantic Council think tank in a video conference from Paris. "I will do whatever I can to support any initiative from the U.S. side to reengage a ... dialogue and I will be here ... I was here, and available two years ago and one and a half (years) ago, to try to be an honest broker and a committed broker in this dialogue." (Reporting By Arshad Mohammed Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)