WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Thursday said no one is authorized to speak to Iran on behalf of the United States, and he accused French President Emmanuel Macron of sending "mixed signals" to Tehran over possible talks.
"I know Emmanuel means well, as do all others, but nobody speaks for the United States but the United States itself," Trump said in a series of tweets.
It was not immediately clear what Trump was referring to, but a report earlier this week said Macron had invited Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to this month's G7 summit to meet Trump. A French diplomat denied the report on Wednesday.
Representatives for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump's Iran tweets.
European leaders are seeking to defuse the brewing confrontation between Tehran and Washington after Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear last year and renewed sanctions in an effort to push a new deal under the US Republican president.
Tehran has responded with a series of moves, including seizing a British tanker in the Gulf and retreating from some of its commitments to limit its nuclear activity made under the deal.
The crisis is expected to be a focus at the G7 summit later this month. Trump and his administration officials have previously said Trump is open to talks with Iran and that the United States does not want war with Iran.
Trump accuses Macron of sending ‘mixed signals’ to Iran
Trump accuses Macron of sending ‘mixed signals’ to Iran
German drone deal under scrutiny over Thiel stake in start-up
- Dietmar Bartsch of the far-left Die Linke called for halting the deal
- The proposed contracts have an initial combined value of $630m
BERLIN: A major proposed combat drone deal for Germany’s military is facing scrutiny from lawmakers worried about US tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s involvement in one of the defense start-ups.
Contracts for Berlin-based Stark Defense, where Thiel holds a stake, and Munich-based Helsing to supply the attack drones will come before parliament’s budget committee next week.
Greens MP Sara Nanni, a security policy spokeswoman for her party, told AFP on Thursday that the controversial right-wing billionaire’s influence raises possible problems.
The strategic importance of the deal means that investor-related risks need to be carefully vetted, she said, adding that “I have to take a very close look at it.”
The German-born Thiel, a co-founder of tech firms PayPal and Palantir and a key early investor in Facebook, is a close confidante of US President Donald Trump.
His right-wing libertarian views and outspoken skepticism of liberal democracies have made him a highly polarizing figure.
Dietmar Bartsch of the far-left Die Linke called for halting the deal, arguing to AFP that paying billions to a firm sponsored by “an avowed opponent of liberal democracies is unacceptable.”
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, a Social Democrat (SPD), also expressed reservations when he said Tuesday that, before awarding the contract to Stark Defense, it must be clarified “what influence Mr.Thiel actually has.”
The proposed contracts have an initial combined value of 536 million euros ($630 million) but include options that could expand the value into the billions.
The chairman of parliament’s defense committee, conservative MP Thomas Roewekamp, largely dismissed concerns about Thiel in comments to the RND news network.
The “small stake held by an American investor” is only of “minor importance,” he said, adding that the drones are urgently needed, particularly to defend German troops deployed to NATO’s eastern flank in Lithuania.
Roewekamp said there remained “open questions regarding the price, the quantity and the technical capabilities” of the drones — but that those issues can be resolved “through the usual parliamentary process.”
Stark Defense declined to disclose details about Thiel’s stake, other than that is remains below 10 percent.
Thiel’s stake does not involve outsized special rights or influence, the company said, and outside access to confidential technical information is regulated by German authorities.
Speaking generally, lawmakers such as Nanni have voiced support for taking risks in order to build up Europe’s tech and defense industries.
“If we don’t want to buy high-tech equipment from the US, then we also have to be prepared to take on more risk,” Nanni told AFP.
SPD MP Andreas Schwarz, a budget and defense policy expert, told AFP there is still broad support in parliament for awarding the drone contracts.
He also noted that Thiel “has stakes in other software companies used by German authorities and NATO.”
But if the defense minister thinks more clarity is need about Thiel’s influence, then “parliament will support him in this,” Schwarz said.
