Joint Statement Following the Meeting Between President Biden and President Macron

December 1, 2022

Today, the President of the United States and the President of the French Republic met in Washington during the first State Visit of the Biden-Harris Administration. This special occasion reaffirms a relationship founded on more than two centuries of friendship, economic partnership, defense and security cooperation, and shared commitment to democratic principles, values, and institutions. 

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The Presidents also express their respect for the Iranian people, in particular women and youth, who are bravely protesting to gain the freedom to exercise their human rights and fundamental freedoms, which Iran itself has subscribed to and is violating.
 
They remain determined to ensure that Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon. France and the United States continue to work with other international partners to address Iran’s nuclear escalation, its insufficient cooperation with the IAEA, including on serious and outstanding issues relating to Iran’s legal obligations under its Non-Proliferation Treaty Safeguards Agreement, and its destabilizing activities in the Middle East, most urgently its transfers of missiles and drones, including to non-state actors. These transfers can threaten key Gulf partners and stability and security in the region, contravene international law, and now contribute to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. France and the United States will work with partners to enhance cooperation regarding enforcement of relevant UN Security Council resolutions and countering these activities. They will undertake joint efforts aimed at further strengthening the international framework constraining the proliferation of Iranian missile and unmanned aerial vehicle technologies in the region and beyond and in enhancing practical efforts to counter this proliferation.