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| France warns sanctions could be reimposed on Iran if nuclear deal not reached |
| 2025-04-29 |
| [IsraelTimes] France, Germany, and the United Kingdom will not hesitate to reimpose sanctions against Tehran if European security is threatened by Iran’s nuclear program, the French foreign minister says at the United Nations. “Iran has crossed all the boundaries it had committed to respect,” and the country “is on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons,” Jean-Noel Barrot tells reporters after a closed-door meeting of the Security Council on non-proliferation, which he had convened. “There is no military solution to the Iranian nuclear problem. There is a diplomatic path to achieve it, but it is a narrow road,” he adds. Barrot voices hope that the ongoing negotiations between Tehran and Washington on the issue would bear fruit, adding that France, Germany, and the United Kingdom are in “close contact” on the issue with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The highest-level talks in years between long-time foes Washington and Tehran are targeting a new deal that would stop Iran developing nuclear weapons — an objective Tehran denies pursuing — in return for relief from sanctions. US President Donald Trump pulled out of an earlier, multilateral agreement on Iran during his first term. The United States and Israel have repeatedly threatened Iran with military strikes to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons. “It goes without saying that upon the expiration of the Iranian nuclear deal… if European security interests are not guaranteed, we will not hesitate for a single second to reapply all the sanctions that were lifted 10 years ago,” Barrot warns. Last week, Rubio urged the three European states to decide whether to trigger the “snapback” mechanism under the 2015 agreement, which would automatically reinstate UN sanctions on Iran over its non-compliance. The option to use the mechanism expires in October. A return of sanctions would have “devastating effects on the country’s economy. This is not what we want, and that is why I solemnly call on Iran to take the necessary decisions today to avoid the worst,” says Barrot. Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67 percent limit imposed by the 2015 deal and a technical step away from the 90 percent threshold required for weapons-grade material. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |