France has enthusiastically joined the U.S. in demanding that Iran fully return to its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 deal with Iran that placed limits on Iran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting UN sanctions. The U.S. unilaterally pulled out of the deal in 2018, yet Iran is expected to accept punishment for pulling back on its commitments in response to the U.S. withdrawal. French President Emmanuel Macron passed exactly that message on to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in a phone call yesterday. “Having reminded (Rouhani) of the efforts made by France with its partners in the last years to reach a negotiated solution, the (French) head of state stressed it was important that Iran made clear and immediate gestures so that dialogue can resume with all parties to the Vienna deal,” Macron’s office said in a readout of the call, reported Reuters.
Rouhani replied by saying that the JCPOA cannot be renegotiated and that the U.S. should lift sanctions. He reminded Macron that the gradual decline of Iranian commitments happened due to the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA and inaction by the three European powers (the U.K., Germany and France) to comply with their obligations, but Iran will instantly return to its commitments as soon as the other signatories to the deal hold up their end of the bargain, reported Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told a parliamentary hearing yesterday that Paris will be pushing a resolution in the general meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency governing board on Iran’s reduced cooperation with the agency in the face of the U.S. refusal to lift sanctions on Iran. “The nuclear tensions will lead us in the coming days to emit a protest in the framework of the IAEA Board of Governors to regret this decision,” Le Drian said. The Iranians have been warning for days that the passage of such a resolution will have negative consequences for nuclear diplomacy with Iran.