France urges Iranian nuclear restraint

PARIS — France’s top diplomat spoke with his Iranian counterpart Saturday and urged Iran to be “constructive” and avoid further nuclear escalation ahead of talks this week aimed at trying to salvage a global accord curbing the Iranian nuclear program.

The United States and Iran said Friday that they will begin indirect negotiations this week, in one of the first signs of progress in efforts to get both countries back into compliance with the 2015 accord. Former President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the accord in 2018, and Iran has been steadily violating its restrictions ever since.

Diplomats from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and Iran will take part in Tuesday’s European Union-brokered talks in Vienna. Those six countries have remained in the accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which bound Iran to nuclear restrictions in return for relief from U.S. and international sanctions.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian spoke Saturday with Iranian Foreign Minister Jawad Zarif to prepare for the talks.

“I encouraged Iran to be constructive,” Le Drian said in a statement. “I called on Iran to abstain from any further violation of its current commitments in the nuclear domain that could threaten the movement toward resumed discussions.”

President Joe Biden entered office saying that getting back into the nuclear accord and getting Iran’s nuclear program back under international restrictions was a priority for his administration. Iran wants sanctions to be lifted first.