France considers that the issue of Iran’s nuclear program should not be linked to that of Western prisoners in Iranpreferring to focus on the need for Tehran to keep its commitments on the issue of its nuclear program.

“I have no comment on the agreement reached between the United States and Iran” to release five American prisoners, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said today at the end of a meeting in New York with Raphael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA/IAEA), on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

“I think we should at least be extremely careful and separate it from the issue of the nuclear program,” he told reporters. “This has nothing to do with it. Don’t connect it, it wouldn’t be wise to do so.”

Four Frenchmen continue to be “arbitrarily detained” in Iran.

On Monday, five Americans released by Iran as part of deal, which was facilitated by the release of six billion dollars in frozen Iranian oil revenues.

Some observers wonder about the impact of this release of frozen Iranian assets on a resumption of talks on Iran’s nuclear program.

“It’s important to keep the two separate, not to conflate the two,” Colonna insisted.

For his part, Rafael Grossi asked for more “clarity”. “Obviously things are connected but if we connect them too much, in the end the confusion increases.”

At the risk of losing the essential, hinted the French minister, for whom “Iran is continuing its nuclear program and that is a cause for great concern.”

“We ask Iran to respect its commitments, to continue a de-escalation and not an escalation,” he said. “And if it doesn’t, it will be up to the IAEA to draw the conclusions in the form of a report that will be submitted to states for them to decide.”

Iran, which has consistently denied it wants to acquire an atomic bomb, has gradually gone beyond its commitments under the 2015 accord in response to the US withdrawal from the agreement, which was decided in 2018 by Donald Trump.

This agreement aimed to limit the Islamic Republic’s nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions against Tehran.

Grossi reiterated that Iran continues to “enrich (uranium) to very high levels, close to military grade.”

“We no longer have the necessary visibility to give guarantees that everything is in order,” he said as Iran withdrew accreditation from “the most experienced” inspectors.