France, Germany and the UK on Wednesday said they are alarmed by Iran’s repeated threats to leave the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and of further expanding its enriched uranium stockpile.
The troika, known as the E3, said it urgently calls on Iran to change course.
In a joint statement to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors on Iran’s implementation of its nuclear commitments under the JCPoA, the three countries said Iran should halt and reverse its nuclear escalation and return to the limits imposed by the nuclear deal.
“The international community must remain united and firm in its determination to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons,” the three countries affirmed.
“The E3 will continue to work towards a diplomatic solution, and we stand ready to use all diplomatic levers to achieve this goal,” they said in a statement distributed by the British Foreign Office.
The statement noted that the E3 remains alarmed by Iran’s repeated threats to leave the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. “This poses a serious threat to the non-proliferation system upon which we all rely,” the troika said.
Therefore, the three countries called on Iran to halt and reverse its nuclear escalation and refrain from making threats regarding nuclear weapons.
Also, they said, Iran should return to the limits imposed by the JCPoA, in particular those regarding enrichment levels and enriched uranium stockpiles, and implement the Iran-IAEA March 2023 Joint statement and the commitments it made regarding transparency and cooperation with the IAEA including re-applying all transparency measures that it stopped in February 2021.
Furthermore, the European countries said Iran should allow the Agency to install surveillance and monitoring equipment and fully reverse its September 2023 decision to withdraw the designations of experienced inspectors.
The E3 statement came in response to the latest report issued by IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi on Iran’s nuclear program and which confirms that Tehran continues to undertake activities in blatant violation of the nuclear deal.