Between Iran and the Europeans, the tone is rising. The two sides meet on Friday, December 6, in Vienna, to take stock of the intensification of Tehran's nuclear activities. The Islamic Republic has indeed multiplied the breaches of the rules governing its nuclear activities since Washington has placed the country under sanctions.

It is in the Austrian capital that diplomats German, British, French, Chinese, Russian and Iran will meet, where in 2015 was signed the historic agreement placing under control the nuclear program of Tehran.

The unilateral withdrawal of the United States from this agreement, considered too flexible by Donald Trump, opened in 2018 a new period of tension with Iran, which Washington wants to place under "maximum pressure".

In retaliation for the economic sanctions reinstated by Donald Trump who suffocate his economy, Iran has, since May, intensified its nuclear activities. In this context, exchanges between Europeans and Iran are getting tougher and the Vienna meeting, between senior officials of the different countries, looks tense.

On the eve of the meeting, under the auspices of the European Union, the Islamic Republic received a new warning. Berlin, London and Paris have criticized him for developing "nuclear-capable ballistic missiles", in violation of a UN Security Council resolution.

This message from the three countries is "a desperate lie to hide their miserable incompetence in fulfilling the bare minimum of their own obligations," responded Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Twitter.

The accumulation of offenses may cause a break

Last month, for the first time, European diplomacy put on the table the possibility of triggering a mechanism included in the 2015 agreement. A mechanism that could lead to the reinstatement of UN sanctions, which, according to many analysts, would sound the final death knell of the 2015 agreement.

Committed for more than six months in a plan to disengage the agreement, Iran exceeds notably the stock of enriched uranium provided by the text, the rate of enrichment and the quantity of heavy water authorized and modernizes its centrifuges.

Iran has announced an additional step in early January to intensify its nuclear program, putting additional pressure on countries remaining parties to the deal.

"The accumulation of offenses may cause a break, abounds François Nicoullaud, former ambassador of France in Iran.This may not be this time, but it will certainly be in the background of the discussions."

The decision to trigger the dispute resolution mechanism provided for in the agreement is difficult, however, because it is "risk losing control over the situation" in the long term, recognizes a European diplomat.

Multiplication of points of contention

For its part, Iran has threatened to "seriously reconsider" its commitments to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) if this mechanism is triggered. The presence in Iran of IAEA inspectors responsible for monitoring nuclear activities in the country is one of the key achievements of the 2015 agreement.

The dialogue with Iranian officials is also blurred by the increasing number of points of contention: French researchers jailed in Iran, seizures of oil tankers by Tehran, regime forces accused of deadly crackdown on social protest that erupted in Iranian cities mid-November .

On Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rohani reiterated that his country was not planning to discuss with Washington whether the United States is lifting its sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

With AFP