Nicolas de Rivière, the French ambassador to the United Nations, recently told Iran International that he is "extremely concerned" about Iran's jump in uranium enrichment.
His comments follow a joint statement by the United States, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom slamming Iran for skyrocketing its enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, near the level used for nuclear weapons.
The condemnation was a response to an International Atomic Energy Agency report detailing the findings, which Iran dismissed as "nothing new."
"The level of threat has increased a lot, so it's time for Iran to get back to compliance, and the IAEA reported on that on December 26, again, and documented the violations. So, of course, we are extremely concerned," Rivière told the outlet.
The ambassador further urged the West to get things back on track after the collapse of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which collapsed after the U.S. pulled out during the Trump administration.
Now dormant, the JCPOA once limited Iran's ability to enrich uranium in exchange for the easing up of sanctions, with varying success.
But another report from the IAEA in late November found that the total stockpile of enriched uranium in Iran now stands at 22 times the JCPOA limit since its collapse.
"The enrichment capacity of Iran has increased in a dramatic matter," Rivière explained. "The so-called breakout time, which was the security deadlines provided by the JCPOA, have pretty much disappeared, and now Iran is pretty close to enough fissile material to assemble a nuclear device."
Uranium enrichment is not the only trouble from Iran the West needs to worry about.
Legal expert Alan Dershowitz argued last week in a Newsmax opinion editorial that Iran was engaging in deliberate acts of war against the U.S. by funding proxy attacks against American troops and their allies.
"There can be no doubt, both as a matter of law and military reality, that recent attacks on American troops, including the one that seriously injured a soldier, are attributable to Iran," Dershowitz wrote.
Luca Cacciatore ✉
Luca Cacciatore, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is based in Arlington, Virginia, reporting on news and politics.
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