The JCPOA remains today the best way to verifiably monitor Iran’s nuclear program [fr]

Mr. President,

I thank the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, the head of the European Union delegation and the facilitator for the implementation of resolution 2231 for their comprehensive and interesting briefings.

First of all, I welcome the latest report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of resolution 2231, which has just been presented to us by Ms. DiCarlo. This report recalls not only the Secretary-General’s constant support for Resolution 2231 and the JCPoA, it also shows the support provided day after day by the Secretariat for the concrete operational implementation of the Resolution in its various dimensions, thus confirming that Resolution 2231 and the JCPoA remain the only legal framework in force today. The report of the facilitator for the implementation of Resolution 2231 recently adopted is also particularly useful from this point of view and I thank him. I would also like to stress that it is essential that the Secretariat continues to have the necessary means to monitor the implementation of Resolution 2231.

Mr. President,

Together with Germany and the United Kingdom, France has worked tirelessly for the preservation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Iranian statements aimed at making the E3s responsible for the current situation are particularly unwelcome in this regard. This agreement is an essential achievement of multilateral diplomacy and the non-proliferation architecture. We negotiated the JCPoA with the conviction that it would decisively contribute to building confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program, as well as to international peace and security. It remains today the best way to verifiably monitor Iran’s nuclear program in order to ensure that Iran develops nuclear energy for exclusively peaceful ends.

We stand today at a key moment for the preservation of this agreement.

Our first priority is to end Iran’s violations of the Agreement, which empties it of it substance, and to avoid actions by Iran that would further weaken it.

We are very concerned by Iran’s recent announcement of its intention to install three new cascades of advanced centrifuge cascades at the Natanz Uranium Enrichment Facility and by the law recently passed by Iran’s Parliament which, if fully implemented, would contribute to a massive development of the enrichment program, to a significant reduction of the IAEA’s verification capabilities, and to a resumption of activities abandoned by Iran some twenty years ago that have no credible civilian justification. These measures would be absolutely incompatible with the JCPoA and with Iran’s other nuclear commitments: their implementation would jeopardize the balance on which the Agreement was built, by putting Iran in a more serious situation than that which existed before the conclusion of the JCPoA.

Our second priority is to ensure the full return of all stakeholders to full compliance with the Agreement, as Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian clearly recalled yesterday during the Joint Commission of the JCPoA Participating States. This is essential to preserve the JCPoA. In this regard, we are very encouraged by the recent statements made by the future American administration on the JCPoA, which could pave the way for a return of the United States to the Vienna Agreement and thus outline a diplomatic prospect for a return of the United States and Iran to the agreement and for addressing broader concerns regarding Iran.

The priority today is clear: preserving the space for diplomacy to allow all the parties to come back to the full implementation of the agreement. In a context where the risks and challenges are many, there is no alternative to full compliance with Resolution 2231 and the JCPoA, in all its aspects. We are pleased that this message was clearly expressed in the Ministerial Declaration that was adopted yesterday by the participants in the agreement.

Finally, and this is my third point, as we unanimously said at the Security Council meeting of 20 October, there is also a need to address regional security concerns. The return of all parties to the Vienna agreement could, from this point of view, contribute to restoring trust and to opening dialogue on these issues in order to find political solutions to the conflicts in the region and prevent any escalation. In this regard, it is important that Iran complies with the relevant Security Council resolutions on the prohibition of the transfer of arms to non-state actors in the Middle East. France is ready to commit with its E3 partners on a constructive dialogue on regional security issues, in connexion with the Secretary-General, the countries of the region and the main partners, because the security of the region is also a matter of international peace and security and concerns us all.

Mr. President,

Since 2003, the E3 have played a key role in the Iranian nuclear dossier. And today we are determined to continue to meet our responsibilities.

Thank you.