France urges Iran to curb nuclear activity & adhere to Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action

In a key development overseas, France on October 22, urged Iran to curtail nuclear activities of 'unprecedented gravity' as the United States and European envoys met to deliberate on reviving the contentious 2015 Iran nuclear deal. The US envoy Robert Malley joined counterparts from France, Britain and Germany at the said conclave in Paris. The French Foreign Ministry called out 'critical time' with the objective to salvage the accord.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anne-Claire Legendre said, "It is urgent and crucial for Iran to end the activities of unprecedented gravity that it is conducting in violation of the agreement and to immediately resue full-fledged cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency."

Notably, the IAEA is responsible to keep a tab on the 2015 agreement, which was aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear activity in exchange for the lifting of crippling sanctions. The US pulled out of the accord under former US President Donal Trump and re-imposed sanctions. Reports suggest that Iran stepped up nuclear activity and is violative of several aspects of the deal called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA. 

Israel envoy to UN accuses Iran of using Nuclear Talks to buy time to upgrade weapons

Israel’s envoy to the US and the UN, Gilad Erdan, on Tuesday, October 19, slammed the UNSC for their “anti-Israel obsession” and said that the "real threat to global security is quickly advancing,” referring to Iran. While speaking at a UN Security Council meeting, Erdan accused Iran of using nuclear diplomacy talks in Vienna to buy time to achieve near weapons-grade uranium enrichment. He told the 15-member body that Iran continues to progress towards its goal of becoming a nuclear threshold state, adding that the “murderous Ayatollah regime” continues to openly violate its international commitments in the fields of enrichment, stockpiling, uranium metal and advanced R&D while obstructing the IAEA. 

Iran is “using the diplomatic talks, to buy time, so that it can enrich uranium to near weapons-grade levels while gaining nuclear know-how that can never be reversed,” Erdan said. He further said that at the same time, Iran continues to spread death, destruction and instability throughout the region, as it seeks to advance Shi’ite hegemony over the Middle East and “exports terror” around the world. 

Further, the Israeli envoy said that his nation favours a diplomatic solution that would prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear threshold state and Israel will do whatever necessary to stop Iran’s nuclear drive and counter the threat from its armies of proxies, along and beyond the nation’s border.