UK, France, Germany criticize Iran over uranium enrichment

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 of Action (JCPoA) 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)."

Later, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell issued a statement after receiving a letter from the foreign ministers of France, Germany, and the UK related to the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA).

"As requested, I have circulated the letter to the other JCPoA participants, namely China, Iran, and the Russian Federation," said Borrell, adding he will consult with all JCPoA participants on the way forward as coordinator.

The JCPoA, also known as the Iran nuclear agreement, was signed in 2015 between Iran and the P5+1, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US, plus Germany together with the EU.

Under the agreement, Tehran has committed itself to limit its nuclear activity to civilian purposes, and in return, world powers agreed to drop their economic sanctions against Iran.