French Envoy’s Tweet on JCPOA Draws Iran’s Protest

TEHRAN (defapress) – Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned France’s new ambassador to Tehran in protest at a controversial tweet from the French envoy to the US about Tehran’s right to uranium enrichment after the 2015 nuclear deal, slamming the interpretation as "unacceptable".

News ID: 76816

Date: 15 April 2019 - 10:22

Hossein Sadat Meidani, head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s secretariat in charge of JCPOA issues, summoned Philippe Thiebaud on Sunday to voice Tehran’s protest against the tweets by French ambassador to Washington Gerard Araud.

According to the Foreign Ministry’s website, Thiebaud was told that Tehran believes the contents of the tweets by Araud are not acceptable at all.

The Iranian diplomat also called for the French government’s explanation, stating that if Paris endorses the remarks and if they reflect the official position of France, this would be in clear contradiction to the goals and provisions of the JCPOA.

“If the issue is not resolved in a satisfactory way, the Islamic Republic will follow it up based on the mechanisms envisaged in the nuclear deal, and reserves the right to give any appropriate response,” Sadat Meidani added.

For his part, the French ambassador to Tehran said he was not aware of the tweets attributed to his peer in Washington, but he would immediately report the issue to Paris.

He also underlined the French government’s political will to fully implement the Iran nuclear deal.

It came after Araud tweeted, “Russia is providing enriched uranium to the Busheer (sic) nuclear power plant. So there won’t be any conceivable reason for Iran to massively enriching uranium after the JCPOA.”

“As we said in 2002 that enriching uranium without a credible civilian program was illegal under the NPT, we’ll be able to react likewise in 2025 if necessary. Sanctions were imposed. Sanctions could be reimposed. There is no “sunset” after the JCPOA,” the French diplomat said in another tweet on Saturday night.

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