Nuclear: France, Germany and the United Kingdom “seriously doubt” Iran’s intentions

Published on: 09/10/2022 – 15:39 France, Germany and the United Kingdom expressed, on Saturday, their “serious doubts” vis-à-vis Iran’s nuclear intentions. After a year and a half of negotiations, the three European countries accuse Tehran of “continuing the escalation of its nuclear program”, contrary to what the texts aiming to restore the Vienna agreement provide. Paris, Berlin and London expressed, on Saturday, September 10, their “serious doubts” about Tehran’s “commitment” to achieving a “positive result” in the ongoing negotiations to save the 2015 nuclear agreement. At the beginning of August, after a year and a half of negotiations, the coordinator of the JCPoA (the 2015 agreement, editor’s note) presented a set of final texts which were to enable Iran to once again fulfill its obligations under the JCPoA and United States to return to the agreement”, recall the governments of the three countries in a joint press release. “In this final package, the coordinator made additional modifications which pushed us to the limits of our flexibility”, they underline. “Unfortunately, Iran has decided not to seize this decisive diplomatic opportunity” and “is continuing to escalate its nuclear program far beyond what could be plausibly justified on civil grounds”, regret London, Paris and Berlin.An investigation of the IAEA in the sights of Tehran Tehran thus recently requested once again the closure of an investigation by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) concerning traces of enriched uranium found on three undeclared sites, which the head of the Agency, Rafael Grossi, refuses. “This latest request raises serious doubts about Iran’s intentions and its commitment to a positive result concerning the JCPoA”, argue the three countries .>> Read also: What does Iran lack to acquire nuclear weapons? According to them, “Iran’s position does not comply with its legally binding obligations and compromises the prospects for the restoration of the JCPoA”, concluded in 2015 with Tehran by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (United States, France, United Kingdom, China and Russia) plus Germany. “Our position remains clear and unchanged. Iran must cooperate fully and immediately with the IAEA, in good faith,” they add. “As we move closer to an agreement, Iran has reopened separate issues, related to its legally binding international obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and its NPT Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),” they lament. Future discussions between “ international partners” The JCPoA, signed in Vienna in 2015, has been shattered since former US President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in 2018 and reinstated heavy sanctions against the Iran. Tehran has since gradually withdrawn from the terms of the agreement, particularly with regard to uranium enrichment. According to the latest quarterly report from the IAEA, the Islamic Republic has further increased its stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60%, close to the quality é military, and he now has more than enough to launch into the manufacture of an atomic bomb if he enriches it a little more.” Considering the fact that Iran does not conclude the “deal on the table, we will discuss with our international partners how best to manage Iran’s continued nuclear escalation and its lack of cooperation with the IAEA,” Paris, London and Berlin warn. iran in the current negotiations is a step “backwards”, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had already estimated on Friday in Brussels. With AFP and Reuters