The movements come amid reports that the US president tried to arrange a meeting with Iranian officials but couldn’t get through to Ayatollah Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader.

Mr Trump and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president, quietly sought to organise face-to-face talks with Iranian officials in Istanbul this week, but efforts collapsed when Khamenei, who is in hiding, could not be reached, three US officials told Axios.

The back-channel effort reveals the extent the US president was willing to go to seek a diplomatic solution with Iran and avoid US military intervention.

On Saturday, Emmanuel Macron, the French president, vowed that Europe would step up its diplomatic efforts, a day after Mr Trump dismissed European efforts to end the war between Iran and Israel.

After speaking with Masoud Pezeshkian, the Iranian president, Mr Macron wrote on X: “I am convinced that a path exists to end war and avoid even greater dangers.

“To achieve this, we will accelerate the negotiations led by France and its European partners with Iran.”

“Iran must never acquire nuclear weapons,” he added. “It is up to Iran to provide full guarantees that its intentions are peaceful.”

His comments followed criticism from Mr Trump, who dismissed the role of European partners in brokering a ceasefire after Friday’s talks with top Iranian officials ended with no breakthrough.

Mr Trump told reporters: “Iran doesn’t want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us.”