We the Foreign Ministers of the governments of France, Germany and the United Kingdom, note with grave concern the latest report by the IAEA confirming that Iran has taken steps in the production of enriched uranium metal. This is a serious violation of Iran's commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA). Iran has no credible civilian need for uranium metal R&D and production, which are a key step in the development of a nuclear weapon.
This further step in Iran's escalation of its nuclear violations is all the more concerning at a time when no date has been set for the continuation of the negotiations in Vienna on a return to the JCPoA. This also takes place in the context of Iran having significantly curtailed IAEA accesses through withdrawing from JCPoA agreed monitoring arrangements and ceasing application of the Additional Protocol.
We strongly urge Iran to halt all activities in violation of the JCPOA, without delay and to return to the negotiations in Vienna with a view to bringing them to a swift conclusion. We have repeatedly stressed that time is on no-one's side. With its latest steps, Iran is threatening a successful outcome to the Vienna talks despite the progress achieved in six rounds of negotiations to date.
