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E3: Iran’s nuke program has expanded ‘far beyond any plausible civilian justification’

Britain, France and Germany: Tehran’s positions are “inconsistent” with its “legally binding international obligations.”

By JNS

Britain, France and Germany on Saturday released a joint statement denouncing Iran for failing to negotiate in good faith a new deal to curb its nuclear program.

According to the statement, Iran’s nuclear program had continued to expand “far beyond any plausible civilian justification,” AFP reported.

The three countries, known as the E3, are all parties to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or Iran nuclear deal, which they along with Russia, China and the United States have been trying to revive through a series of negotiations in Vienna that began in the spring of 2021.

In their statement, the Europeans blamed Tehran for not taking “advantage of the decisive diplomatic opportunity” after the European Union last month presented to the Islamic Republic what was described at the time as a “final” draft proposal for a new agreement, according to AFP.

Instead, the statement said that Iran had “reopened separate issues” and that its position was “inconsistent” with “legally binding international obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and its safeguards agreement under the NPT concluded with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).”

In this respect, the statement noted that Tehran had not adequately responded to the IAEA’s resolution in June calling on Iran to explain the presence of uranium particles found at three undeclared sites.

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“Iran must fully and without delay cooperate in good faith with the IAEA,” the statement said.

In response, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani described the statement as “unconstructive,” adding: “It is surprising and regrettable that, in a situation where diplomatic interactions and exchanges of messages are continuing … to finalize the negotiations,” the three European countries would issue such a missive.

In doing so, Kanani said that London, Paris and Berlin had ” taken a step in the path of the Zionist regime [Israel] to defeat the negotiations,” according to a separate AFP report.

Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said that Jerusalem was carrying out an “intensive campaign” to prevent the renewal of the “dangerous” nuclear agreement.