Iranian FM to Visit Paris as France Urges Renewed Cooperation with IAEA
The meeting comes as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) continues to seek access to Iranian nuclear facilities, a point of contention that has escalated tensions between Iran and Western powers.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is scheduled to visit Paris on Wednesday for talks with his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot, France’s Foreign Ministry announced on Monday, amid mounting Western pressure on Tehran to restore full cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.
The meeting comes as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) continues to seek access to Iranian nuclear facilities, a point of contention that has escalated tensions between Iran and Western powers. “Foreign Minister Araghchi will travel to France on Wednesday and hold talks with the minister,” the French ministry said, noting that the visit will offer an opportunity to urge Iran to resume compliance with the IAEA.
Western governments accuse Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapons capability—an allegation the Iranian government repeatedly rejects.
Tensions surged in mid-June when Israel launched an unprecedented series of airstrikes on Iran, triggering a 12-day conflict that briefly drew the United States into military action targeting key Iranian nuclear sites. The escalation halted the high-level nuclear negotiations between Tehran and Washington that had begun in April, talks that were already strained over Iran’s insistence on its “inalienable” right to enrich uranium.
A tentative cooperation framework was reached between Iran and the IAEA in Cairo in September. However, Tehran later declared the agreement void after Britain, France, and Germany moved to reinstate UN sanctions previously lifted under the now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal.
Araghchi on Friday signaled the need for what he described as a “new approach” to monitoring Iran’s nuclear activities. Earlier that day, he accused the United States and major European powers of pursuing a strategy of “escalation” following an IAEA resolution demanding Iran provide “full and prompt” cooperation, including access to sensitive facilities.
France’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday’s meeting would be used to once again press Tehran to fulfill its obligations. “This will be an opportunity for us to call on Iran to comply with its commitments towards the IAEA and to quickly resume cooperation with the agency,” the ministry stated.
