U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday there had been "great unity" among G7 leaders on the question of how to deal with Iran at a summit in France and they had "more or less" come to a conclusion.

However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, sitting beside him, said that while she and Trump had productive talks on Iran, there was still a long way to go on the issue.

Earlier Monday, Trump said he wanted to see a strong Iran and was not seeking a change of leadership in the country, though he added that the standard of living for ordinary Iranians was unacceptable.

"I'm looking at a really good Iran, really strong, we're not looking for regime change. You've seen how that works over the last 20 years, that hasn't been too good," the president told reporters on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit at the French seaside resort Biarritz.

He said he had not been surprised that France had invited Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for talks on Sunday that were aimed at trying to ease tensions between Washington and Tehran.  

"I knew he was coming in and I respected the fact that he was coming in. And we're looking to make Iran rich again, let them be rich, let them do well, if they want," Trump said. "Or they can be poor as can be. 

"And I tell you what, I don't think it's acceptable the way they are being forced to live in Iran. What we want is very simple. It's got to be non-nuclear. We're going to talk about ballistic missiles, we're going to talk about the timing. But they have to stop terrorism. I think they are going to change, I really do. I think they have a chance."

Rifts on Iranian nuclear deal further divide G7 on 2nd summit day

Zarif made a surprise weekend visit to the G7 summit and held more than three hours of talks, including with French President Emmanuel Macron, before heading back to Tehran. 

The visit was made at the invitation of French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in a bid to continue discussions on recent initiatives between the presidents of Iran and France, said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi. 

Iran's nuclear issue is one of the main topics at this year's summit of the seven leading industrialized countries. 

Together with Britain and Germany, the host country France is working to rescue the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iranian nuclear deal, from which the U.S. has unilaterally withdrawn since last year, raising the tension of the Gulf region.

Earlier on Sunday, the French President told LCI television that he has obtained a mandate to deliver a message to Iran on behalf of the seven countries, following the leaders' dinner on Saturday.

"We agreed on what we wanted to say jointly on Iran ... Everyone wants to avoid a conflict, U.S. President Donald Trump was extremely clear on that point," he said. 

But later in the day Macron appeared to backtrack on his own comments, saying there was no formal mandate from the G7 leaders to pass a message to Iran, but he would continue to hold talks with Tehran in the coming weeks to defuse tensions.

Trump, who has pushed a maximum pressure policy on Iran, distanced himself from the proposal, saying he had not even discussed it. 
    
When asked whether he supports Macron's outreach concerning Iran, Trump said, "Sure. But I also support Abe's outreach... We'll do our own outreach. You can't stop people from talking. If they want to talk, they can talk."

(With input from Reuters)

(Cover: U.S. President Donald Trump (R) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel hold a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., April 27, 2018. /VCG Photo)