French ambassador's remarks blatant violation of JCPOA: Iran

"If tweets by @GerardAraud represent France's position, we're facing blatant violation of the objective and theme of the JCPOA (the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) and UNSCR [United Nations Security Council Resolution] 2231," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araqchi said in a post on his official Twitter account on Sunday. He urged Paris to immediately clarify the issue, otherwise Tehran will "take the appropriate measure." Araud, who has served as France's ambassador to Washington since 2014, tweeted on Saturday that "it is false to say that at the expiration of the JCPOA, Iran will be allowed to enriching uranium." He added that according to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and its Additional Protocol, Iran must prove, under strict monitoring, that its nuclear activities are civilian. Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China plus Germany – signed the nuclear agreement on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016. Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against the country. US President Donald Trump withdrew Washington in May 2018 from the landmark nuclear agreement and decided to re-impose unilateral sanctions against Tehran. In a quarterly report in February, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran continues to comply with the restrictions on its nuclear activities under the JCPOA. The UN nuclear agency added that Iran remained within caps on the level to which it can enrich uranium and its stock of enriched uranium in accordance with the nuclear accord. In another Twitter post, the French diplomat said under the NPT, it is "illegal" to enrich uranium "without a credible civilian program." Araud claimed that there is no “sunset” after the JCPOA, adding that Iran has no "conceivable reason" to "massively" enrich uranium since Russia is providing enriched uranium to Bushehr power plant in southern Iran. Russia has built a nuclear power plant in Bushehr in southern Iran. The agreement for the Bushehr nuclear power plant was finalized in 1995, but the project was delayed several times due to a number of technical and financial issues. The 1,000-megawatt plant, which is operating under the full supervision of the IAEA, reached its maximum power generation capacity in August 2012. In September 2013, Iran officially took over from Russia the first unit of its first 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plant for two years. The construction of the power plant’s second and third phases began in November 2017. It was reported at the time that the two phases would begin supplying electricity to Iran’s power grid in 10 years. Iran summons new French envoy over 'unacceptable' tweets Also on Sunday, Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned new French Ambassador to Tehran Philippe Thiebaud over Araud's "unacceptable" tweets. Head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s secretariat in charge of following up on the implementation of the JCPOA, Hossein Sadat Meidani, summoned the French ambassador, telling him that the tweets' contents are not acceptable for the Islamic Republic in any way. The Iranian official called for the French government's explanation, saying that if the case is not attended to and resolved "in a satisfactory way," Tehran will pursue it based on the mechanisms envisaged in the JCPOA. Sadat Meidani added that the Islamic Republic reserves the right to give an appropriate response to such remarks. Thiebaud, for his part, said he was not aware of the tweets, but would immediately inform the French government of the Islamic Republic’s protest. The French ambassador to Tehran expressed his country's political will to fully implement the JCPOA.

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