France threatens Iran with re-enacted sanctions over non-compliance of nuke deal

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned on Wednesday that a mechanism that re-enacts sanctions against Iran might be launched due to Tehran's non-compliance with obligations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA).

"I must say that the de-escalation efforts that we tried to take, which the President of the Republic made several times, did not lead to anything for a number of reasons. This is because the Iranian authorities violated the JCPOA rules," Le Drian said, responding to questions from the French National Assembly members.

"Every two months there is an additional notch (from the Iranian side). ... Today we are asking a question -- I am saying this clearly -- about the use of the mechanism for resolving disagreements, which is provided for in this agreement," he added.

According to the minister, such a question arises given the sequence of actions by the Iranian authorities to non-compliance with the JCPoA. "But we still support de-escalation," Le Drian stressed.

In May last year, Washington withdrew from the nuclear deal, signed in 2015 by Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union. It has since then been imposing sanctions on the Middle Eastern country, aimed at bringing its oil exports to zero.

A year after the US' withdrawal, Tehran announced it would gradually abandon its JCPoA obligations every 60 days unless the other signatories helped ensure Iran's interests.

Earlier in November, the fourth stage of reducing the JCPoA obligations was implemented, as part of which Iran started enriching uranium at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.

The nuclear deal provides for the possibility of activating a special dispute resolution mechanism if one of the parties considers that the other does not comply with its obligations.

If it is not possible to agree within the framework of the mechanism, the document provides for the right of the parties to stop fulfilling their own obligations, as well as the possibility of restoring sanctions against Iran.