UK, France, Germany criticize Iran over uranium enrichment

By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA (AA) – The UK, France, and Germany criticized Iran for violating its commitment regarding the enrichment of uranium.

The three European countries gave a joint statement to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Iran’s implementation of its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan (JCPoA) of Action on Wednesday.

“Regrettably, Iran’s actions remain in clear violation of its JCPoA commitments and stated intentions,” the statement read, adding that Tehran continued escalating its nuclear program to "an alarming level clearly beyond credible civilian justification."

They also noted that Iran fell short of its transparency commitments.

“The IAEA reports show Iran has continued to accumulate enriched uranium far beyond JCPoA limits, at 5%, 20% and, most alarming, at 60%. This means that the weight of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile is now over 18 times the amount permitted under the JCPoA,” the three countries stressed, saying that they will take diplomatic steps to "prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons."

Another group of 63 countries on Thursday signed a joint statement denouncing Iran's lack of cooperation on the NPT Safeguards Agreement.

They urged Iran to "clarify and resolve these issues in a manner satisfactory to the IAEA."

In a separate statement, the US joined the three European countries to recall that Iran made commitments on March 4, regarding the safeguards issues.

There has been no progress, the statement read, and added: "Instead, Iran persists in its deliberate refusal to engage earnestly with the agency (IAEA)."