French foreign minister urges Israel to lift financial blockade, end 'colonization' of West Bank, abandon E1 settlement project, apply immediate ceasefire
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Tuesday signaled that Paris would reapply global embargoes on Tehran if no tangible nuclear deal is achieved by late August.
"Iran has violated the commitments it made 10 years ago during the negotiation of the Iranian nuclear deal. France and its partners are therefore justified in reapplying the global embargoes on weapons, banking, and nuclear equipment that were lifted 10 years ago," Barrot said during his doorstep statement at the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels.
He warned that without a "firm, tangible, and verifiable commitment" from Iran, they would reapply embargoes "by the end of August at the latest," calling for opening a diplomatic process leading to a "negotiated settlement and oversight" of Iran's nuclear activities.
"We continue to demand an immediate, unconditional ceasefire and the release of all hostages held by Hamas, which must be disarmed. But we also demand that the Israeli government lift the financial blockade on the Palestinian Authority by paying the €2 billion ($2.3 billion) it owes the Authority," Barrot further said.
He urged Israel to end the "colonization" of the West Bank, in particular the "disastrous" E1 settlement project, that "threatens to split the West Bank in two and deliver a fatal blow to the two-state solution."
"I believe the European Union would do itself credit by following the directions we have proposed: to sanction individuals and entities responsible for violent, extremist colonization, and to cease all forms of direct and indirect financial support for colonization," Barrot added.
He further commented on Washington's recent announcement to apply 30% tariffs on the EU goods, underlining that the US economy "vitally needs" the European economy to "function."
"The threat of the United States applying 30% tariffs on the European Union is an unfriendly act that resembles blackmail and does not reflect the privileged relationship between the US and the EU," Barrot stressed.
