French President Emmanuel Macron told his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi in a phone call on Saturday that revitalizing the 2015 Iran nuclear deal is “still possible” provided it is “done as soon as possible.”
Referring to the 2015 nuclear deal, which is supposed to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear bomb in exchange for the lifting of sanctions that are suffocating the country’s economy, Macron emphasized that “a solution aimed at returning to its full implementation is still possible.” “The French presidency wrote in a statement. But it must be reached as soon as possible.”
The statement added that Macron “expressed his disappointment at the lack of progress” after several months of suspension of talks in Vienna and stressed to President Raisi that a clear choice must be made to reach an agreement and return to Iran’s nuclear commitments. . “
More than a year ago, Iran and the powers still included in the 2015 agreement, France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China, began talks in Vienna in which the United States, which in 2018 unilaterally withdrew from the The agreement was withdrawn, indirectly participated in this agreement. The era of its former president, Donald Trump.
The currently suspended talks are aimed at bringing Washington back to the agreement and lifting sanctions imposed on Tehran after the withdrawal, in exchange for Tehran returning to its nuclear commitments that it withdrew after the US action.
Raisi, for his part, told Macron in this two-hour call: “Issuing the decision of the International Atomic Energy Agency against Iran is a crisis-inducing action aimed at restricting the Iranian people and led to the violation of political trust between Iran.” Both sides” according to the official news agency IRNA. Iranian.
Raisi condemned the “US sanctions” against his country and said that it “harms the global economy, especially Europe.” He also condemned the “non-constructive” actions and positions of the US and European countries regarding the nuclear issue, according to the Iranian presidency.
And Kamal Kharazi, Iran’s former foreign minister, said in press releases last Sunday that his country had the “technical capabilities” to build a nuclear bomb, but he reiterated his official position that there was no decision to do so.
On Wednesday, Tehran confirmed that there was “no change” in its nuclear policy. Nasser Kanani, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said: Regarding the issue of weapons of mass destruction, we have a fatwa of the Supreme Leader prohibiting the manufacture of these weapons.
Iranian authorities regularly cite this fatwa as a guarantee of Tehran’s goodwill.
On the other hand, the French presidency confirmed that during a phone call with his Iranian counterpart, Macron reiterated his “deep concern about the situation of four Frenchmen arbitrarily detained in Iran” and demanded their “immediate release”.
This concerns Benjamin Brier, who was sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison for espionage, which he denies, and Iranian-French researcher Fariba Adelkhah, who was sentenced to five years in May 2020 after being convicted of undermining national security. He was sentenced to prison. In addition to two other French nationals who have been detained since May 11, Tehran accuses them of “entering the country with the intention of creating chaos and destabilizing the society”.
Source: Lebanon Debate
