The Foreign Ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom and the High Representative of the European Union are extremely concerned by the latest announcements that Iran is restarting uranium enrichment activities at the Fordow facility, as confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in its 11 November report.

Iran’s action is inconsistent with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA)’s clear provisions on Fordow and has potentially severe proliferation implications. It represents a regrettable acceleration of Iran’s disengagement from commitments under the JCPoA.

We urge Iran to reverse all measures inconsistent with the JCPoA, including exceeding the maximum allowed low enriched uranium stockpile and the maximum allowed enrichment limits, and not respecting the limits set by the JCPoA on nuclear R&D activities. The IAEA has confirmed in its latest reports, including in its latest quarterly report of 11 November, that Iran is carrying out all of these measures.

We underline the importance of the full and effective implementation of the JCPoA by all sides and confirm our determination to continue all efforts to preserve the agreement, which is in the interests of all. Iran must return to full implementation of its commitments under the JCPoA without delay.

We also call upon Iran to fully cooperate with the IAEA within the framework of the JCPoA and in accordance with all its nuclear obligations, in particular its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement and the Additional Protocol. In this regard, we are deeply concerned by the lack of timely cooperation by Iran and by the recent incident reported to the Board of Governors at its extraordinary meeting on 7 November.

We reiterate our support for the IAEA and recall our confidence in the Agency’s impartial and independent monitoring and verification of Iran’s nuclear commitments.

We affirm our readiness to consider all mechanisms in the JCPoA, including the dispute resolution mechanism, to resolve the issues related to Iran’s implementation of its JCPoA commitments. We are in contact with the other JCPoA participants in this regard.

The E3/EU have fully upheld their JCPoA commitments, including sanctions-lifting as foreseen under the JCPoA. It is now critical that Iran upholds its JCPoA commitments and works with all JCPoA participants to de-escalate tensions. We stand ready to continue our diplomatic efforts to create the conditions for, and to facilitate, the de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East, in the interest of preserving international peace and security. These efforts are however made increasingly difficult by Iran's latest actions.