{"id":92786,"date":"2021-02-13T07:28:21","date_gmt":"2021-02-13T12:28:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/?p=92786"},"modified":"2021-02-13T07:28:21","modified_gmt":"2021-02-13T12:28:21","slug":"auto-draft-495","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/2021\/02\/13\/auto-draft-495\/","title":{"rendered":"France, Russia urge &#8216;restraint&#8217; after new nuclear breach by Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"t-content__chapo\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-92787 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Conversion-Facility-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Conversion-Facility-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Conversion-Facility-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Conversion-Facility.jpg 600w, https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Conversion-Facility-24x16.jpg 24w, https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Conversion-Facility-36x24.jpg 36w, https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Conversion-Facility-48x32.jpg 48w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>RFI \u2014 France and Russia on Thursday urged Iran to show restraint after it started producing uranium metal in a new breach of limits laid out in Tehran&#8217;s nuclear deal with world powers<\/p>\n<p>France on Thursday urged Iran to show restraint after it started producing uranium metal in a new breach of limits laid out in Tehran&#8217;s nuclear deal with world powers.<\/p>\n<p>The UN\u00a0s nuclear watchdog in Vienna reported that Iran has started producing uranium metal in defiance of the landmark 2015 accord, which former US president Donald Trump backed out of in 2018.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The International Atomic Energy\u00a0Agency (IAEA) &#8220;on 8 February verified 3.6 gram of uranium metal at Iran\u2019s Fuel Plate Fabrication Plant (FPFP) in Esfahan,\u201d according to a statement <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/iran-nuclear-iaea-idUKV9N2FR027\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">seen by Reuters<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"em-WBMZ20217-RFI-EN-20210212\" class=\"m-em-flash\">\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"Twitter Tweet\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=madeyang&amp;dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1359906291381059589&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rfi.fr%2Fen%2Finternational%2F20210212-france-russia-urge-iran-restraint-after-new-nuclear-breach-2015-international-deal-united-states-sanctions-joe-biden&amp;siteScreenName=RFI_En&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=889aa01%3A1612811843556&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1359906291381059589\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The move came as Iran warned that time was running out for President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration to save the agreement from collapse.<\/p>\n<div id=\"tms-ad-inread-8203159905961409\" class=\"tms-ad\" data-tms-ad-type=\"inread\" data-tms-ad-provider=\"teads\" data-tms-ad-status=\"loaded\">\n<div class=\"teads\">\n<div class=\"teads-inread sm-screen\">\n<div>\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Assassination<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>But Iran accelerated\u00a0steps to move away from the\u00a0Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (<a href=\"https:\/\/2009-2017.state.gov\/e\/eb\/tfs\/spi\/iran\/jcpoa\/\/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">JCPOA<\/a>) after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rfi.fr\/en\/international\/20201127-iran-condemns-killing-of-top-nuclear-scientist-as-act-of-state-terror\" target=\"_self\">the assassination <\/a>of its top nuclear scientist Mohsen\u00a0Fakhrizadeh on 27 November 2020. No one has taken responsability for the killing, but the London-based <em>Jewish Chronicle<\/em> claims in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thejc.com\/news\/world\/world-exclusive-truth-behind-killing-of-iran-nuclear-scientist-mohsen-fakhrizadeh-revealed-1.511653\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a lengthy article <\/a>on 10 February that Israel&#8217;s Mossad is likely to have been\u00a0behind it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Five days after Fakhrizadeh&#8217;s murder,\u00a0the all-powerful <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rfi.fr\/en\/middle-east\/20170517-iran-presidential-candidates-guardian-council-watching-you\" target=\"_self\">Guardian Council\u00a0<\/a>approved the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.niacouncil.org\/publications\/iranian-parliament-bill-on-nuclear-program-full-text-in-english\/?locale=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Strategic Action Plan <\/a>to Lift Sanctions and Protect Iranian Nation\u2019s Interests\u201d bill,\u00a0passed by the Iranian parliament, which &#8220;required&#8221; the country&#8217;s Atomic Energy Agency to &#8220;produce and store at least 120 kilograms of enriched uranium with a 20-percent purity level every year for peaceful purposes<em>,&#8221; <\/em>and\u00a0expand enrichment facilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Article 6 of the law says that if sanctions are not lifted within two months, IAEA inspections will be stopped. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tehrantimes.com\/news\/456794\/We-will-expel-IAEA-inspectors-if-sanctions-not-lifted-by-Feb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">deadline is set<\/a> on 21 February.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Russian sympathy<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Iran&#8217;s ally Russia expressed sympathy for Tehran&#8217;s position, while nonetheless urging against provocations.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We understand the logic of their actions and the reasons prompting Iran. Despite this it is necessary to show restraint and a responsible approach,&#8221; Russia&#8217;s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov told state news agency RIA Novosti.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier on, <a href=\"https:\/\/tass.com\/politics\/1238073\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tass News Agency reported <\/a>that Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov\u00a0had said that the\u00a0US should &#8220;not put forward preconditions for its return to the JCPOA&#8221; on the Iranian nuclear program.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Further escalation<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rfi.fr\/en\/international\/20210118-france-urges-iran-us-to-return-to-the-international-nuclear-agreement\" target=\"_self\">France<\/a>, meanwhile,\u00a0warned Iran against any further escalation of its row with the West, which it hopes Biden will help resolve.<\/p>\n<p>The French foreign ministry said there was a need to &#8220;preserve the political space for a negotiated solution&#8221; to the standoff.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rfi.fr\/en\/international\/20210105-iran-steps-up-uranium-enrichment-worrying-france-and-other-nuclear-partners-sanctions-oil-sales-embargo-iaea\" target=\"_self\"><strong>Iran steps up uranium enrichment<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;In this context we call on Iran to not take any new measure that would further aggravate the situation on the nuclear front, which is already extremely concerning due to the accumulation of Iranian violations of the Vienna accord,&#8221; the ministry added.<\/p>\n<p>But Iran&#8217;s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reiterated Tehran&#8217;s stance that Washington must take the first step toward restoring the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.<\/p>\n<div id=\"em-WBMZ20222-RFI-EN-20210212\" class=\"m-em-flash\">\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-1\" class=\"\" title=\"Twitter Tweet\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=madeyang&amp;dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-1&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1359919480319729673&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rfi.fr%2Fen%2Finternational%2F20210212-france-russia-urge-iran-restraint-after-new-nuclear-breach-2015-international-deal-united-states-sanctions-joe-biden&amp;siteScreenName=RFI_En&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=889aa01%3A1612811843556&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1359919480319729673\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;Biden administration officials keep talking about Iran&#8217;s compliance with JCPOA &#8212; In what capacity?&#8221; Zarif said on Twitter.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;U.S. ceased participation in May 2018, violated JCPOA &amp; punished those complying with UN resolution. As of today, US remains in EXACTLY same position. Before spouting off, COMPLY,&#8221; he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The deal reached by Iran with the US, China, Russia, Germany, France and Britain, which aims to prevent Iran developing an atomic bomb, bans Tehran from &#8220;producing or acquiring plutonium or uranium metals or their alloys&#8221; for 15 years.<\/p>\n<p>Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.asil.org\/ILIB\/trump-announces-withdrawal-iran-deal-may-8-2018\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">unilaterally withdrew<\/a> from the nuclear deal on 8 May 2018\u00a0as part of a campaign of &#8220;maximum pressure&#8221; on Iran, which included the reimposition of crippling economic sanctions.<\/p>\n<p>Biden is seeking to revive the agreement, but the two sides appear to be in a standoff over who should act first.<\/p>\n<p>Iran denies having any ambitions of building a nuclear bomb, but said last month it was researching the production of uranium metal, a potential component for nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RFI \u2014 France and Russia on Thursday urged Iran to show restraint after it started producing uranium metal in a new breach of limits laid out in Tehran&#8217;s nuclear deal with world powers France on Thursday urged Iran to show restraint after it started producing uranium metal in a new breach of limits laid out [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":92787,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latests"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["fa","en"],"languages":{"fa":{"title":true,"content":false,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92786"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92789,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92786\/revisions\/92789"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/PERSIAN-HERITAGE.COM\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}