Trend:

France will continue making every effort to return Iran to the full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), French Defen?e Minister Florence Parly said on Saturday, Trend reports citing Sputnik.

"We can only confirm our goal, which is to bring Iran to compliance with the Vienna agreement. We will continue efforts in this direction. All our diplomatic efforts are aimed at this and, as you know, the president of the republic [Emmanuel Macron] is personally involved in this," Parly said at a joint press conference with Pentagon chief Mark Esper.

On Friday, Iran started the third stage of rolling back nuclear obligations under the JCPOA. The gradual reduction of nuclear obligation was announced on the first anniversary of the US unilateral pullout from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal on 8 May. Tehran then announced that it would start abandoning some parts of its nuclear obligations every 60 days unless European signatories to the deal, including France, ensured Iran's interests under the agreement amid Washington’s reinstated sanctions.

Other JCPOA signatories have so far failed to ensure Tehran's economic interests in the face of unilateral US sanctions. The third stage of nuclear obligations reduction prescribes research and development in the sphere of nuclear technologies beyond the nuclear deal limits, including the work with centrifuges.