French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has warned Iran not to come up with an artificial position for the next round of talks on the 2015 nuclear deal.
According to the British news agency Reuters, a day before the French Foreign Minister's statement, France had urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to send a strong message to Iran.Earlier, Iran had said in a statement to the IAEA, which is reviewing Iran's implementation of the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, that its action should be "free from any political role."
The statements point to escalating tensions ahead of indirect talks between the United States, Iran and world powers on the resumption of the 2015 nuclear deal, following a November 29 meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors.
Western diplomats say there is little time to renegotiate the agreement, which was suspended in 2018 by then-US President Donald Trump, leaving powers such as Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia involved. Was disappointed
Earlier, six rounds of talks on Iran's nuclear deal had stalled, following the election of new Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, who said his country would not back down from its position in the talks. 'France has warned Tehran of its demands, which US and European diplomats deem unrealistic, including the lifting of sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union in 2017.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told a Paris-based newspaper that "the first step is to decide whether the talks will begin where they ended in June."
Referring to the 2015 nuclear deal, he said, "If these talks are fabricated, then we have to consider the joint comprehensive strategy as empty."
"The United States is ready to return to the negotiations from where they left off in June so that they can be completed as soon as possible."
"From November 29 and in the days to come, we will look into whether Iran has the same desire," he said.
