Britain, France, and Germany expressed “deep concern” over Iran’s production of uranium metal without pointing to their lack of commitment to the JCPOA.

“We, the governments of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, are deeply concerned by Iran’s announcement that it is preparing to produce uranium metal,” the three European countries claimed in a joint statement on Saturday.

“Iran has no credible civilian use for uranium metal. The production of uranium metal has potentially grave military implications. Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA), Iran committed to not engaging in the production of uranium metal or conducting research and development on uranium metallurgy for 15 years,” the statement further claimed.

“We strongly urge Iran to halt this activity, and return to compliance with its JCPoA commitments without further delay if it is serious about preserving the deal,” the statement added.

Iran’s permanent ambassador to the International Organizations in Vienna said that the Islamic Republic has initiated the development of new fuel for the Tehran reactor.

“This activity is carried out in three stages, and in the first stage, metal uranium is produced using natural uranium,” he said, adding that the Director-General of the IAEA published a report and informed the member countries about the matter.