June 20, 2025
Madam President,
We have listened with utmost attention the Secretary-General, who forcefully reminded us of the gravity of the situation, and we thank him.
I would also like to thank Ms. Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, and Mr. Raphael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), for their briefings, which provide us with a clear overview of the reasons for today’s meeting.
Madam President,
The strikes between Israel and Iran have been going on for a week. Civilian casualties are multiplying on both sides. Yesterday, one of Israel’s largest hospitals was struck by an Iranian missile. Israeli strikes have also targeted civilian infrastructure unrelated to Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. And the information provided by the Director General of the IAEA on the radiological situation at certain sites is on everyone’s mind.
There is a need to urgently end these military operations, which pose a serious threat to regional security.
France calls for restraint and de-escalation. Civilian lives need to be spared. We must re-embark upon the path of diplomacy.
As the Secretary-General has stressed, the nuclear issue is at the heart of this matter. France’s position is clear: Iran cannot and must not develop nuclear weapons.
Iran’s acquisition of such weapons would first and foremost pose a threat to the security of Israel and the region, which Iran has been destabilizing for years by delivering its support to armed organizations and terrorist groups.
A nuclear Iran would also pose a direct threat to the security interests of France and Europe. This threat is already highly tangible: French hostages are currently being held in Iran, and Iran has been supplying Russia with ballistic missiles and drones that are being used in its war of aggression against Ukraine. France takes this opportunity to reiterate its call for the immediate release of its two hostages who have been held in Iran for more than three years under unacceptable conditions.
Iran gaining access to nuclear weapons would represent an egregious violation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. It would result in a grave weakening of the international non-proliferation regime, of which this treaty is the cornerstone. It would prompt other States to engage in the race for this weapon, in the region and beyond.
Yet Iran has chosen to engage in a dangerous escalation of its nuclear program, despite calls to respect its international commitments.
Iran has accumulated a stockpile of uranium that largely exceeds the limits of the 2015 agreement. It has produced highly enriched uranium at levels that have no credible civilian justification. It has installed thousands of advanced centrifuges in excess of the limits set out in the 2015 agreement, including at sites where such activities are prohibited by the JCPoA.
The Director General of the IAEA stated in a report published at the end of May that he was unable to guarantee the peaceful nature of Iran’s program. The IAEA Board of Governors observed in a resolution adopted on June 12 that Iran was failing to comply with its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. We are grateful to the IAEA for its unrelenting efforts to fulfill its inspection and verification responsibilities despite Iran’s obstruction and refusal. We respect the IAEA’s demonstrated ethic to impartiality, independence, and strict respect to treaties and its mandates.
The goal of this Council must therefore be for Iran to resume its cooperation with the IAEA and return to compliance with its international obligations. A decision by Iran to withdraw from the NPT would constitute an unprecedented escalation.
However our responsibility towards the civilian populations who are suffering, our commitment to international law, and the memory of recent crises in the Middle East require us to act: there can be no military solution to the Iranian nuclear issue. It is through negotiation that a lasting response to the proliferation threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program must be sought.
This is France’s long-standing position, alongside its British and German partners. It is this approach that made possible the 2015 Vienna agreement, which we have always supported, despite the US withdrawal in 2018 and Iran’s decision to cease complying with its commitments in 2019. In 2020, the European members of the E3 triggered the dispute settlement mechanism provided for in the agreement and undertook tireless diplomatic efforts in this context. In 2021 and 2022, Iran was offered two revised agreement proposals, which would have allowed the United States to return to the agreement and Iran to resume its full implementation. Iran did not seize these opportunities.
This year again, France, together with its E3 partners, has continuously engaged with Iran and hopes that these exchanges will bear fruit.
In the absence of an agreement that reflects our security interests, France, together with its close European partners of the E3, as they have announced, will shoulder its responsibilities under the provisions of Security Council Resolution 2231.
France today solemnly calls on Iran to finally seize the opportunity for a negotiated diplomatic solution while there is still time. As several of you have noted, a meeting of the E3 ministers, the High Representative of the European Union and their Iranian counterpart is being held today in Geneva for this end.
As time is ticking, France, together with its close European partners, stands ready to initiate immediately diplomatic negotiations with Iran to ensure that Iran never acquires nuclear weapons and to put an end to this conflict. We must agree on a robust, verifiable, and sustained agreement, which is essential to ensure the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program. Iran must take clear and concrete commitments now to demonstrate to the international community that Tehran is committed to this path and that rapid results can be achieved.
Thank you.