France Warns Iran Against Further Nuclear Breaches

French President Emmanuel Macron and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani meet at the UN headquarters in New York, US. AFP file photo
French President Emmanuel Macron and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani meet at the UN headquarters in New York, US. AFP file photo
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France Warns Iran Against Further Nuclear Breaches

French President Emmanuel Macron and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani meet at the UN headquarters in New York, US. AFP file photo
French President Emmanuel Macron and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani meet at the UN headquarters in New York, US. AFP file photo

France's foreign ministry warned Iran on Thursday against taking further measures that could breach the 2015 nuclear accord with world powers and as a result jeopardize a diplomatic window opened with the arrival of a new US administration.

"To preserve the political space to find a negotiated solution, we call on Iran not to take any new measures that would further worsen the nuclear situation, already extremely worrying due to the accumulation of violations of the Vienna Accord, including the latest just reported by the IAEA," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Agnes von der Muhll said.

She was referring to a UN atomic watchdog report on Wednesday that said Tehran had carried out its plan to produce uranium metal. Iran has also warned it could block later this month short-notice inspections of its nuclear facilities.



Putin Aide Accuses West of Trying to Isolate Russia’s Kaliningrad Exclave

Russia's Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev attends a meeting of the collegium of the Prosecutor General's office in Moscow, Russia, March 15, 2023. Sputnik/Pavel Bednyakov/Pool via Reuters/File Photo
Russia's Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev attends a meeting of the collegium of the Prosecutor General's office in Moscow, Russia, March 15, 2023. Sputnik/Pavel Bednyakov/Pool via Reuters/File Photo
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Putin Aide Accuses West of Trying to Isolate Russia’s Kaliningrad Exclave

Russia's Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev attends a meeting of the collegium of the Prosecutor General's office in Moscow, Russia, March 15, 2023. Sputnik/Pavel Bednyakov/Pool via Reuters/File Photo
Russia's Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev attends a meeting of the collegium of the Prosecutor General's office in Moscow, Russia, March 15, 2023. Sputnik/Pavel Bednyakov/Pool via Reuters/File Photo

An aide to President Vladimir Putin accused the West on Friday of trying to isolate Russia's European exclave of Kaliningrad as much as possible by restricting the supply of goods to it by road and rail.

Kaliningrad, an exclave on the Baltic coast sandwiched between NATO and European Union members Lithuania and Poland, is home to Russia's Baltic Fleet. EU sanctions imposed on Moscow over its war in Ukraine ban the transport of certain goods there.

Nikolai Patrushev, an adviser to Putin known for his hawkish views on the West, visited Kaliningrad on Friday where he complained that 80% of goods which he said were essential for the exclave could not be brought by land.

"The countries of the West are trying to complicate cargo and passenger transit to Kaliningrad to the maximum extent in order to isolate the Kaliningrad region and to disrupt transport links with the main territory of Russia," the state TASS news agency quoted Patrushev as saying.

He was quoted as saying Russia had been forced to supply the exclave with much of what it needed by sea, including on a ferry which operates between Kaliningrad and a port in the Leningrad region.

Work was underway to move the transit of diesel fuel, cement, and other materials to a specialized tanker fleet, he added, while two rail and road ferries were being built to try to improve transport links.

Those vessels were due to be completed in 2028, Patrushev was quoted as saying by TASS.