Macron warns or World War 3 as tensions rise over Iran nuclear deal

Iran announced it will open a new centre from enriching uranium after US President Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal and slapped sanctions on the country.

Mr Macron, in a bid to smooth over diplomatic relations, said it “does not mean” Iran has stepped outside the scope of its nuclear agreement.

At a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Paris, Mr Macron said: “I call on everyone to stabilise the situation and not give in to this escalation, which would lead only to one thing: conflict.”

Under the terms of the 2015 deal, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear activities in return for relief from sanctions that had crippled its economy.

But Mr Trump’s decision to remove the United States from the accord has pushed the deal to the brink of collapse, and left its remaining signatories – France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia – scrambling to find ways to keep it afloat.

The French centrist later tweeted that he had told Mr Netanyahu – a fierce critic of the nuclear deal – that the pact had to be saved despite its shortcomings.

He said yesterday: “I told Benjamin Netanyahu: the 2015 Iran nuclear accord must be preserved.

“That said, it has never been considered sufficient. It is a bedrock on which we can build the region’s stability.”

Brussels’ response to the news that Tehran had told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it was preparing to boost its uranium enrichment capacity was also tinged with alarm.

Maja Kocijancic, a spokesperson for the EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, told reporters on Tuesday, said: “We will continue to respect our commitments under the nuclear deal so long as Iran continues to respect theirs’.

“And this is still the case. The IAEA confirmed for the eleventh time that Iran is continuing to implement its nuclear commitments under the deal, and we are now looking at ways to defend EU interests [against the US sanctions] and preserve the accord.

“We will also do our utmost to preserve the benefits of the accord for Iran.”