As world prepares for life after Brexit, PM Scott Morrison says Australia better placed than most to sign new UK trade deal
Donald Trump says he has “a good feeling” Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani will want to meet with him as Iran is “hurting badly”.
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US President Donald Trump says he would meet Iran’s president under the right circumstances to end a confrontation over a 2015 nuclear deal and that talks were under way to see how countries could open credit lines to keep Iran’s economy afloat.
But Mr Trump, speaking at a G7 summit in the French resort of Biarritz, ruled out lifting economic sanctions to compensate for losses suffered by Iran.
Trump told reporters it was realistic to envisage a meeting between him and President Hassan Rouhani in coming weeks, describing Iran as a country of “tremendous potential”.
“I have a good feeling. I think he (Rouhani) is going to want to meet and get their situation straightened out. They are hurting badly,” Trump said on Monday.
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French President Emmanuel Macron, host of the G7 summit, told the same news conference that Rouhani had told him he would be open to meeting Trump.
Macron said he hoped a summit between the two men could happen in coming weeks.
Trump and Rouhani head to the United Nations General Assembly in September.
European leaders have struggled to calm the deepening confrontation between Iran and the US since Trump pulled Washington out of Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and reimposed sanctions on the Iranian economy.
But Macron has spent the (northern) summer trying to create conditions for a period of pause to bring the two sides back to the negotiating table.
“What I hope is that in coming weeks, based on these talks, we can manage to see a summit between President Rouhani and President Trump,” Macron said, adding that he believed if they met a deal could be struck.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is under US sanctions, on Sunday flew to Biarritz where the Group of Seven leaders were meeting.
Trump said he was not open to giving Iran compensation for sanctions on its economy. However, he said the idea under discussion would be for numerous countries to give Iran a credit line to keep it going.
“No we are not paying, we don’t pay,” Trump said.
“But they may need some money to get them over a very rough patch and if they do need money, and it would be secured by oil, which to me is great security, and they have a lot of oil … so we are really talking about a letter of credit. It would be from numerous countries, numerous countries.”
MORRISON’S VOW: I’LL BEAT TRUMP TO DEAL
Meanwhile, Scott Morrison jetted out of Biarritz confident Australia can beat the US to sign the first post-Brexit trade deal with Britain.
Fresh from talks with the newly-appointed British PM Boris Johnson, Mr Morrison said Australia was “match fit” to make a deal following a string of successful trade pacts signed in recent years.
Mr Johnson had earlier played down the prospects of striking a trade deal with the US within 12 months of the October 31 Brexit deadline.
He said it would be a “tight” timeline.
But Mr Morrison said Australia “can move quicker than that”.
“With the way we’ve been setting our own records and being able to strike agreements around the world, we’re pretty match fit when it comes to these issues,” Mr Morrison said.
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“If anyone is in a room talking about better trade and free trade, you’ll find Australia in that room.”
The 40-minute meeting between Mr Morrison and Mr Johnson was the first time the pair has met as prime ministers.
Mr Morrison predicted he would have a “great relationship” with Mr Johnson.
“(It) was both an enjoyable and very lively affair,” Mr Morrison said.
A new free trade agreement between Australia and the European Union is expected to take longer with negotiators struggling to find common ground over a list of protected “geographical indicators”.
Earlier this month, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham released a list of European names the EU wants to ban Australian producers from using such as feta, prosciutto di Parma, Stilton Cheese and Scotch Beef.
Mr Morrison said he had “prosecuted our case” for a Free Trade Agreement with European leaders at the summit but admitted there were some “difficult issues”.
“That geographic indicators issue is a tough one but we’ll work through that patiently,” he said.
— with Reuters