Iran's disputed uranium enrichment program is approaching the point of no return and Tehran's European partners under the depleted 2015 nuclear deal should consider reimposing sanctions if there is no progress, the French president said, quoted by Reuters.
At an annual conference with French ambassadors to outline foreign policy goals for 2025, President Emmanuel Macron identified Iran as a major "strategic challenge from a security perspective" for France and Europe.
"The acceleration of the nuclear program is taking us almost to the point of no return," Macron said.
Iran says it is enriching uranium for peaceful purposes and has accelerated the program since US President-elect Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the 2015 deal during his first term and reimposed tough US sanctions on Tehran.
European powers France, Germany and Britain said last month that Iran's actions had further undermined the deal and would increase Tehran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium without "credible civilian justification".
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog said in December that the Islamic Republic had "dramatically" is accelerating uranium enrichment to near the level of about 90% needed to make bombs.
The three European powers were among the signatories to the 2015 deal under which Iran agreed to limit its uranium enrichment - something the West sees as a covert effort to develop nuclear weapons in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.
French, German and British diplomats will meet with Iranian counterparts on January 13 (following a similar meeting last month) to discuss the possibility of serious talks in the coming months to ease tensions with Tehran.