French President Emmanuel Macron held a meeting at the Elysee Palace with the International Atomic Energy Agency Chief Yukiya Amano, during which the two discussed the latest development pertaining to the Iran deal. Earlier in the day, the IAEA director General also met with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, during which Amano declared that Iran was fulfilling its commitments regarding the nuclear agreement, while stating that the statements by President Donald Trump have not yet affected Iran’s attitude toward the international inspectors. Amano said, “The statement made by the American president (Donald Trump) was made very recently, and we haven’t had sufficient time to see (a change) in the attitude of Iran, but I can say that the Iranians are cautious and we continue our control and verification activities without any problems.” The IAEA chief further said that “Iran is implementing commitments regarding nuclear, taken within the framework of JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action). Also, we’ve had access to all the places that we needed to visit,” he asserted.
While French leaders declared on several occasions its strong support of maintaining the international nuclear agreement with Iran, the French top diplomat sent a warning signal to the Islamic Republic that its actions pertaining to its ballistic program, military activities in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East are a growing concern in Paris, and will be addressed separately from the nuclear agreement. Minister Le Drian said, “We have other subjects of concern regarding Iran: its ballistic program, its military activities in Syria and more widely in the Middle East. These issues are the subject of other discussions, independent of the Vienna agreement, even if we are particularly vigilant, concerned and demanding on these issues,” the French Foreign Minister noted.