UN nuclear official in Tehran as atomic accord unravels

France says Iran dialogue channels 'still open'

September 09, 2019 00:00:00

TEHRAN: Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran chief Ali Akbar Salehi (L) and Acting Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Cornel Feruta giving a joint press conference in Tehran on Sunday — AFP

TEHRAN, Sept 08 (Agencies): The acting director-general of the United Nations nuclear watchdog is in Tehran for meetings after Iran announced it would begin using advanced centrifuges prohibited by its 2015 atomic deal with world powers.

Iranian state television aired on Sunday video of Cornel Feruta in the capital, Tehran.

Feruta is to meet Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, and Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran.

Iran on Saturday announced it would begin using two types of advanced centrifuges.

Iran already has crept past limits the deal imposed on nuclear enrichment and its uranium stockpile. It is trying to pressure Europe to offer a way to sell crude oil abroad despite U.S. sanctions.

The U.S. pulled out of the nuclear deal over a year ago, raising tensions.

Meanwhile, France on Sunday urged Iran to halt its moves to downgrade a landmark nuclear pact, saying channels for dialogue were still open.

"The channels for dialogue are still open, including today… (but) Iran must give up such actions," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said a day after Tehran announced it had started new centrifuges which would allow it to enrich uranium to higher levels.

That decision, plus two earlier moves to step back from commitments set in the 2015 nuclear accord, comes despite European efforts spearheaded by Paris to get Tehran to continue to respect the pact which US President Donald Trump withdrew from last year.

Le Drian, speaking on the Le Grand Rendez-vous Europe1/CNEWS/Les Echos programme, noted that it was the United States which had first undermined the agreement.

"The accords… were signed by a certain number of countries, among them the United States, which has said it is no longer bound by the provisions," he said.

Washington had then imposed more tough sanctions on Iran, to the point that Tehran was seeing no gain in sticking to the agreement, he said.

The outcome was no good for anyone, however, with Iran "making a bad response to a bad decision by the Americans," he said, adding that this led only to escalation.