Rice: French 'On Board' with Iran Deal

President Barack Obama's top national security aide said Wednesday that France was "fully on board" with a proposed interim deal on freezing Iran's nuclear program, ahead of a new round of talks in Geneva.

National Security Adviser Susan Rice made the comment after Obama spoke to French President Francois Hollande by phone and both men urged Iran to accept a deal presented by world powers.

"The French are fully on board," Rice said at the Washington Ideas Forum sponsored by the Atlantic magazine and the Aspen Institute.

Reports last week said that eleventh hour reservations by France had scuttled hopes of agreeing a deal with Tehran at the talks grouping the P5+1 world powers in Geneva.

But Rice insisted that "some of the reporting on this has been, frankly, rather misleading."

In a statement issued by the French presidency, Hollande and Obama expressed support for the text of an agreement put forward at the Geneva talks.

"The two heads of state expressed their shared determination to obtain from Iran every guarantee that it will finally give up its military nuclear program," the statement said.

"Now it is up to Iran to give a positive answer," the statement said.

A White House statement said the leaders were in "full agreement" on the "unified proposal" put forward by world powers in the P5+1 group.

The statement also highlighted Washington's close relationship with Paris, smoothing over suggestions that Washington was angry with France's role in the talks.

"The United States deeply values its relationship with France, including as NATO allies, and we will continue to consult closely on global security," the White House said.

Iran and world powers are planning to meet again on November 20 for further negotiations.

Western diplomatic sources say the two sides were close to a deal, but that Iran backed away because it was unhappy with some of the wording in the text.

The P5+1 is made up of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany.

They have been negotiating with Tehran for years over its nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed at developing a nuclear weapon -- a claim Iran vehemently denies.