French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Friday that Paris would approve UN sanctions relief for Iran only if it is satisfied with the final US-Iran agreement.

He is the latest senior official to express concern over the US-Iran memorandum of understanding, which has drawn criticism from a range of voices in the US and beyond, including in Israel.

But Barrot also drew a rebuke on Friday from US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee for saying Israel should cease hostilities in Lebanon, after four Israeli soldiers were killed by the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group in the country’s south overnight. Iran is also demanding that Israel halt its fire and withdraw from Lebanon.

Speaking to broadcaster FranceInfo on Friday, Barrot said France wants to play a role in the nuclear talks with Iran as outlined by the MOU that Tehran and Washington agreed to this week, which kicks off 60 days of negotiations between the sides.

The MOU says the final agreement will be “endorsed by a binding UNSC resolution.” It also provides for hundreds of billions of dollars in economic relief for Iran, despite not mandating any concrete concession from the Islamic Republic on its nuclear program.

Barrot, whose country holds veto power on the United Nations Security Council, said there would be no stability in the region unless US talks with Iran also dealt with Iran’s support for terrorist proxies, as well as its ballistic missile program. Neither of those issues is addressed in the MOU.

“The return for major concessions that will be asked of Iran is the lifting of sanctions, sanctions that were taken at the United Nations,” he said.

“France is a permanent member of the United Nations [Security Council] so as was the case 10 years ago, France will have to give its approval for the sanctions to be lifted,” he added, alluding to former US president Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal, signed by France and several other countries in 2015.

When the 2015 deal reached the decade point last year, its remaining Western parties — France, Germany and Britain — triggered the reimposition of a UN arms embargo and other sanctions on Iran, accusing the Islamic Republic of having failed to abide by the agreement.

This time, European powers fear an inexperienced US negotiating team may fail to secure a robust nuclear agreement or address Iran’s ballistic missile program in the next phase, risking a prolonged standoff.

France, Britain and Germany want a role shaping the coming talks after being sidelined in........

© The Times of Israel