It has been a love-in, a bromance like no other in international diplomacy.

But no amount of hugging, kissing, wiping away dandruff or holding hands between Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron can conceal the sharp differences between them.

The most obvious involves Iran and the nuclear deal drawn up under the Obama administration and involving easing sanctions in return for limiting Tehran's nuclear programme.

President Trump believes it is a "terrible" deal, a "ridiculous, insane" agreement – the "worst deal in history".

The American leader believes it does nothing to restrain the threat of Iran, not only from ballistic missiles but also from terrorism and Iran's activities in places like Yemen and Syria.

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Mr Macron on the other hand believes it is the only option. The alternative, he believes, is a rapid slide towards war. He wants to persuade Mr Trump to stay in the deal when it is up for consideration on 12 May.

And he has a plan.

He wants to persuade President Trump to renew the existing deal when the deadline comes, and to start a new negotiation with Iran on a fresh deal that Mr Trump finds acceptable.

In the press conference on Tuesday, the American President said there was a chance he would go along with that if it was "a new deal with solid foundations".

But the possible concession came with a warning that if Iran returned to its nuclear programme and threatened the United States "it would pay a price like few other countries".

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Kim Jong Un has never been on an overseas trip as leader
Image:Kim Jong Un is set to meet President Trump in the coming weeks

And the big problem is whether others will go along with the renegotiation, not least, of course, Iran.

They are on record as saying the deal is the deal and there can be no new talks. And the original agreement also included Britain, Germany, China and Russia – who all will have a view on President Macron's idea.

He has proposed the new negotiations as part of a bigger, broader check on Iran's activities regarding ballistic missiles as well as military operations across the Middle East, particularly in Syria.

Mr Macron believes, rightly, that such an approach may appeal to President Trump, who frequently condemns Tehran's behaviour in the region.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Image:Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

The US leader did not reveal what he will do on 12 May but there seems a chance he will give his French counterpart's plan tentative support. It would be quite a coup for President Macron.

And one reason he may stay in the Iran agreement pending negotiations is North Korea.

At a time when he is trying to persuade Kim Jong Un to enter a deal in which the North Korean dictator gives up his nuclear weapons, it would be a strange message to send if Mr Trump sabotaged a nuclear agreement with Iran.

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Their other differences on the long-term future for Syria, on climate change and on trade all surfaced, but were quickly buried by the all-encompassing bonhomie on show.

It is that sort of visit.

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