France Urges Iran to Maintain Suspension on Nuclear Activities

Xinhua:

France urged Iran on Tuesday to maintain its suspension over nuclear activities after Teheran announced earlier in the day the imminent resumption after a two-year suspension. "We would like Iran to abide by the suspension of all activities related to the enrichment and reprocessing (of uranium) as agreed in November 2004," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said. READ MORE

"We are asking Iran to take into account all the concerns expressed by the IAEA board of governors," the spokesman said.

The spokesman also reaffirmed France's support of a Russian proposal aimed at breaking a deadlock in the EU-Iran negotiations.

"These Russian ideas respond to the worries of the international community in terms of proliferation and, at the same time, give Iran the means to develop a pacific nuclear programme," he said.

Russia has suggested that a contentious uranium enrichment process be carried out in Russia instead of in Iran.

The deputy head of Iran's atomic energy agency, Mohammad Saidi, said earlier Tuesday that his country would resume nuclear fuel research activities within the next few days, and that the IAEA had been notified.