France conveyed to Iran the terms of a US-proposed ceasefire with Israel at the request of Washington in the hours leading up to the truce, a French diplomatic source said Wednesday.
On Monday night, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot to "inform him of the US wish for a ceasefire provided there was no Iranian retaliation," the source said.
"Rubio asked Jean-Noel Barrot to transmit this information to Abbas Araghchi," their Iranian counterpart, it said.
"After the call, the (French) minister spoke to his Iranian counterpart to [...] transmit the terms and details of the discussions (between) Americans and Israelis," the source added.
Araghchi then indicated his "availability to continue negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program" including with France, Britain and Germany, and "after these discussions, the ceasefire was able to go into force", it said.
Qatar and fellow Gulf state Oman had also both been pushing for a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
Qatar's prime minister persuaded Iran to agree to the US-proposed ceasefire with Israel after Iranian missiles targeted an American base near Doha, a source with knowledge of the talks has said.
Israel said Tuesday it has agreed to US President Donald Trump's declaration of a ceasefire with Iran, adding that it has achieved all its objectives in the 12-day war with its arch-foe.
The war started with a wave of Israeli strikes on Iran on June 13, just days ahead of a sixth round of US-Iran nuclear talks in Oman.
With AFP
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