TEHRAN DEFENDS PLAN TO PROCESS URANIUM

France, Germany and Britain on Friday condemned Iran's decision to produce uranium metal, which they said was in breach of commitments made by Tehran.

The UN nuclear watchdog said this week that Iran had followed through on its plan to make uranium metal, which Tehran said would be used for a research reactor but which can also be used in weapons. The move is the latest breach by Iran of a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Tehran began incremental violations of the pact after the U.S. withdrew from the deal in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions on Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran's position was in line with the deal governing actions one side could take if it believe the other was not meeting obligations.