Iran Asks France To Reconsider ‘Unconstructive’ Approach

Iran’s foreign ministry asked France to reconsider its “unconstructive” stance ahead of upcoming talks with major European countries on Tehran’s nuclear programme.

On Monday, Emmanuel Macron said Tehran’s uranium enrichment drive is nearing a point of no return and warned that European partners in a moribund 2015 nuclear deal with Iran should consider reimposing sanctions if no progress is reached.

“Untrue claims by a government that has itself refused to fulfil its obligations under the nuclear deal and has played a major role in (Israel’s) acquisition of nuclear weapons is deceitful and projective,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei wrote on X on Wednesday.

France, Germany and Britain were co-signatories to the 2015 deal in which Iran agreed to curb enrichment, seen by the West as a disguised effort to develop nuclear weapons capability, in return for lifting international sanctions.

Tehran’s Uranium Enrichment

Iran says it is enriching uranium for peaceful purposes and has stepped up the programme since U.S. President-elect Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the 2015 deal during his first term of office and restored tough U.S. sanctions on Tehran.

French, German and British diplomats are set to hold a follow-up meeting with Iranian counterparts on Jan. 13 after one in November held to discuss the possibility of serious negotiations in coming months to defuse tensions with Tehran, as Trump is due to return to the White House on Jan. 20.

Baghaei did not mention French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot’s comment regarding three French citizens held in Iran.

Barrot said on Tuesday that future ties and any lifting of sanctions on Iran would depend on their release.

‘Don’t Travel To Iran’

France has also advised its citizens to refrain from travelling to Iran until the three French nationals held there are released.

Foreign Minister Barrot condemned the situation, calling the detention of French citizens “unacceptable” and emphasising that they have been unjustly imprisoned under harsh conditions. He urged French nationals to avoid travelling to Iran until the hostages are freed.

Currently, three French nationals are detained in Iran. Cécile Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris have been imprisoned since May 2022 on espionage charges, a crime punishable by death in Iran.

Another French citizen, identified only as Olivier, has been in custody since October 2022, though details of his case remain undisclosed, according to French authorities.

(With inputs from Reuters)