Iran’s Foreign Ministry Summons French Ambassador to Tehran
The new French ambassador to Tehran has been summoned to Iran’s Foreign Ministry. The reason for the summons is tweets posted by France’s ambassador to the United States regarding the possibility of nuclear sanctions against Iran being reimposed after the JCPOA in 2025.
Philippe Thiébaud, the French ambassador who recently began his work in Iran, was summoned to Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday, April 23, 1403 (April 14, 2024), following his presentation of credentials to Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s Foreign Minister, regarding tweets posted by France’s ambassador to the United States.
Gérard Araud, France’s ambassador to the United States, wrote on Twitter on Saturday, April 13: “It is incorrect to say that Iran will be permitted to engage in uranium enrichment at the end of the JCPOA period.”
Iran and six world powers reached an agreement in 2015 to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions against the country. This agreement was reached for 10 years in some aspects and for 15 years in others.
However, Donald Trump, the U.S. President, withdrew the United States from the JCPOA last year, stating that one of the shortcomings of the nuclear agreement with Iran is that the limitations set for Iran’s nuclear program expire after a certain period.
France’s ambassador to the United States, in his tweets, while raising the issue of enrichment, also added that nuclear sanctions against Iran could be reinstituted.
In response to Gérard Araud’s tweets, Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister, wrote on Twitter that if the recent tweets by France’s ambassador represent the position of that government, then “we are faced with a serious violation of the purpose and intent of the JCPOA and UN Security Council Resolution 2231. Paris must immediately clarify, otherwise we will show an appropriate response.”
The summons of the new French ambassador to Iran’s Foreign Ministry also came as part of Iran’s continued protest to France regarding Iran’s right to uranium enrichment after 2025.
According to Iranian media reports, the Iranian side told the French ambassador that the tweets by France’s ambassador in Washington “are in no way acceptable, and if the aforementioned statements have been endorsed by the French government and represent its official positions, this would be in clear violation of the objectives and provisions of the JCPOA, and if this matter is not resolved satisfactorily and the issue is not concluded, the Islamic Republic will pursue the matter through the mechanisms provided for in the JCPOA and reserves the right to take any appropriate response.”
According to Iranian media reports, France’s ambassador to Iran expressed lack of knowledge regarding the tweets by his country’s ambassador to the United States and emphasized the French government’s political will to fully implement the provisions of the JCPOA.
According to Reuters news agency, Gérard Araud, who previously participated in nuclear negotiations with Iran, is scheduled to retire on April 20. His writings about Iran were deleted within hours of their posting following Iran’s protest.
The French government did not immediately take a position on this matter. The signatories of the nuclear agreement with Iran—Britain, China, France, Germany, and Russia—continue to seek its preservation despite the United States’ withdrawal from the agreement.
Source: DW
