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Lost opportunity? Rouhani departs NY without meeting Trump

A US-Iran breakthrough seems elusive after attacks on Saudi Arabia.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani walks with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres as they meet on the sidelines of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., September 25, 2019. REUTERS/Yana Paskova - HP1EF9P1DL8HJ

NEW YORK — As captured on video, French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday prodded Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to meet US President Donald Trump, warning that missing the chance to talk to Trump before he left New York would be a “lost opportunity.”

“If he leaves the country without meeting with President Trump, this is a lost opportunity,” Macron said in a huddle with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Rouhani, surrounded by advisers and journalists on the sidelines of the UN on Tuesday. “Because he will not come back in a few months. And President Trump will not go to Tehran, so they have to meet now.”

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