Iran is prepared to work on French proposals to salvage the international nuclear deal that Tehran signed with world powers in 2015, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday.
"There are proposals on the table... and we are going to work on those proposals," he said at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs in Oslo.
French President Emmanuel Macron offered on Wednesday to either soften sanctions on Iran or provide "a compensation mechanism to enable the Iranian people to live better" in return for full compliance with the pact, which the United States quit last year.
"I'm looking forward to having a serious conversation with President Macron about possibilities to move forward," said Zarif.
He had said on Monday he would meet Macron and Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in Paris on Friday.
Zarif also stressed at the seminar at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs that Iran will not start a war in the Gulf but it will defend itself.
"Will there be a war in the ... Gulf? I can tell you that we will not start the war... but we will defend ourselves," he said.
Tensions continue to rise in the Gulf since President Donald Trump last year unilaterally pulled the US out of the nuclear deal signed by Iran and other world powers.
In recent weeks, oil tankers in the region have been the subject of attacks and seizures, dragging among others London and Tehran into a bitter diplomatic row.
