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Macron Warns US against Dumping JCPOA without Viable ‘Plan B’

Macron Warns US against Dumping JCPOA without Viable ‘Plan B’
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France does not have any viable ‘Plan B' to replace the internationally-backed nuclear agreement with Iran, French President Emmanuel Macron admitted, as the deadline looms for US President Donald Trump to decide whether to scrap the deal or not.

Macron Warns US against Dumping JCPOA without Viable ‘Plan B’

"I don't have any Plan B," Macron told Fox News on Sunday, explaining that, while the 2015 agreement is not "perfect," he sees no "better option."

"Let's preserve this framework because it's better than the sort of North Korean type of situation," Macron said. 

With the May 12 deadline to re-certify the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA] looming, Trump has repeatedly warned that Washington will unilaterally pull out unless some critical "flaws" of the deal -such as the absence of limits on any ballistic missile program- are not fixed.

Meanwhile, the US State Department even sent a diplomatic mission to the UK, Germany and France to rally support for its plan to amend or to scrap the agreement, the "spirit" of which Tehran is accused of breaching.

On Sunday, Macron urged the White House to abide by the UN-backed nuclear accord. While admitting that the range of Tehran's missiles remains a concern for France, he noted, however, that the ballistic program issue is indeed not covered by the JCPOA.

"I'm not satisfied with the situation with Iran. I wan
t to fight against ballistic missile. I want to contain their influence in the region," he told Fox television.

"My point is to say, don't leave now [the] JCPOA as long as you don't have a better option for nuclear and let's complete it with ballistic missile and a regional containment."

Adopted by Iran and the P5+1 -China, France, Russia, the UK, the US and Germany- the JCPOA stipulates that Tehran must reduce the number of its uranium enrichment centrifuges by two-thirds, cap the enrichment grade below the level needed for weapons-grade material, and reduce its enriched uranium stockpile by 98 percent for 15 years.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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