Iran nuclear: French-American agreement on “stronger international response”

France and the United States agreed on the need for a “stronger” international response to Iran’s nuclear threat.

France’s Foreign Ministry said Friday that Secretary of State Catherine Colonna told her U.S. counterpart Antony Blinken that there must be a stronger international response to the threat posed by Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Colonna and Blinken discussed a range of issues, including Ukraine and Iran, during telephone talks on Thursday, the ministry said.

It added: “Colonna pointed to Iran’s destabilizing activities, the growing threat posed by its expanding arsenal of ballistic missiles and missile launches, including on non-state actors, and the need to strengthen the international response to this threat”.

Colonna discussed with Blinken the need for Iran to cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which said last week that Tehran is inconsistent in meeting its nuclear obligations.

Talks resumed in April 2021 in Vienna to revive the 2015 international agreement on the Iranian nuclear file between the major powers (the US, Britain, France, Russia, and China, plus Germany) and Iran.

The 2015 agreement allowed for the lifting of sanctions on Tehran in return for a reduction in its nuclear activities and a guarantee of the peaceful nature of its program.

Iran has blocked the revival of the nuclear deal by insisting that Washington provide guarantees that withdrawal from the deal would not be repeated, as occurred in 2018 under former president Donald Trump.

Tehran also demands that the IAEA close down the issue of its inspectors finding traces of uranium at three secret nuclear facilities, and refuses to provide clear answers on this issue, which is complicating the course of the talks.