Iran’s foreign ministry has called upon Paris to review its “unconstructive” approach, just days before Tehran is set to hold a new round of talks about its nuclear programme with major European countries.
On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that Tehran’s uranium enrichment drive is nearing a point of no return and warned that European partners in the 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.
Iran maintains that 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 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 January 13 after a previous meeting in November to discuss the possibility of serious negotiations in the coming months to defuse tensions with Tehran, as Trump is due to return to the White House on January 20.
Baghaei did not mention French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot’s comment regarding three French citizens held in Iran. Barrot stated on Tuesday that future ties and any lifting of sanctions on Iran would depend on their release.