France and Britain Seal Deals on Nuclear Cooperation

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (L) and France's President Emmanuel Macron (L) react as they shake hands during a joint press conference at the end of the French-British summit, at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, on March 10, 2023 (AFP)
Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (L) and France's President Emmanuel Macron (L) react as they shake hands during a joint press conference at the end of the French-British summit, at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, on March 10, 2023 (AFP)
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France and Britain Seal Deals on Nuclear Cooperation

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (L) and France's President Emmanuel Macron (L) react as they shake hands during a joint press conference at the end of the French-British summit, at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, on March 10, 2023 (AFP)
Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (L) and France's President Emmanuel Macron (L) react as they shake hands during a joint press conference at the end of the French-British summit, at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, on March 10, 2023 (AFP)

France and Britain signed two energy partnership agreements on Friday, emphasizing nuclear power as a secure source of low-carbon energy.

The deals were announced during a bilateral summit in Paris spanning energy, defense and migration.

"France and the UK are working together so that never again can the likes of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin weaponize our energy security," British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told a news conference in Paris.

"We are creating a future where every watt of energy powering our homes and industry will come from secure, sustainable and reliable sources."

French President Emmanuel Macron said he hoped the British could share their know-how in offshore wind - a technology that France has struggled to scale up.

Under the first of the two agreements, France will consider building electricity interconnectors with its neighbor to increase cross-border energy flows.

Both countries will also cooperate on clean-energy technology, such as hydrogen and carbon capture.

A second nuclear-specific agreement establishes a working group on nuclear innovation and safety, with both countries building nuclear plants, both full-sized and small modular reactors. Reducing reliance on Russia for civil nuclear goods was also mentioned as a priority.

"We have a common ambition, and that is to exit fossil fuels," Macron said.

French utility EDF is already building a nuclear plant in Britain, Sizewell C, with a second project in the pipeline, Hinkley Point C.



Trump Threatens Bombing if Iran Does Not Make Nuclear Deal

An Iranian painter repaints one of the famous anti-US murals in Tehran, Iran, 29 March 2025. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
An Iranian painter repaints one of the famous anti-US murals in Tehran, Iran, 29 March 2025. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
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Trump Threatens Bombing if Iran Does Not Make Nuclear Deal

An Iranian painter repaints one of the famous anti-US murals in Tehran, Iran, 29 March 2025. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
An Iranian painter repaints one of the famous anti-US murals in Tehran, Iran, 29 March 2025. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH

US President Donald Trump threatened Iran on Sunday with bombing and secondary tariffs if Tehran did not come to an agreement with Washington over its nuclear program.
In Trump's first remarks since Iran rejected direct negotiations with Washington last week, he told NBC News that US and Iranian officials were talking, but did not elaborate.
"If they don't make a deal, there will be bombing," Trump said in a telephone interview, according to Reuters. "It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before."
"There's a chance that if they don't make a deal, that I will do secondary tariffs on them like I did four years ago," he added.
Iran sent a response through Oman to a letter from Trump urging Tehran to reach a new nuclear deal, saying its policy was to not engage in direct negotiations with the United States while under its maximum pressure campaign and military threats, Tehran's foreign minister was quoted as saying on Thursday.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated the policy on Sunday. "Direct negotiations (with the US) have been rejected, but Iran has always been involved in indirect negotiations, and now too, the Supreme Leader has emphasized that indirect negotiations can still continue," he said, referring to Ali Khamenei.
In the NBC interview, Trump also threatened so-called secondary tariffs, which affect buyers of a country's goods, on both Russia and Iran. He signed an executive order last week authorizing such tariffs on buyers of Venezuelan oil.
Trump did not elaborate on those potential tariffs.
In his first 2017-21 term, Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers that placed strict limits on Tehran's disputed nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
Trump also reimposed sweeping US sanctions. Since then, Tehran has far surpassed the agreed limits in its escalating program of uranium enrichment.
Tehran has so far rebuffed Trump's warning to make a deal or face military consequences.