France, US discuss Iran's missile program, vow harsh response

• 

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told her US counterpart Anthony Blinken, on Friday. that "there must be a stronger international response to the threat posed by Iran's ballistic missiles program," as per the French Foreign Ministry.

Colonna and Blinken had a phone conversation on Thursday and tackled a variety of issues, most notably Ukraine and Iran.

"The minister mentioned Iran's destabilizing activities and the increasing threat posed by the increase of its ballistic missiles arsenal, the proliferation of missiles including towards non-state actors (...) and the need to strengthen the international response to this threat," said the Ministry, in reference to Colonna's talks with Blinken.

During the phone call, the two officials also highlighted the importance of Iran cooperating completely with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which claimed last week that Tehran was inconsistent in implementing its nuclear obligations.

This comes just one day after the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Mohammad Eslami, called on International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi to maintain professional conduct and refrain from participating in a pressure campaign against Tehran after the agency's recent reports.

His comment came in response to a statement made earlier by the United States, France, Germany, and the UK regarding the purity of the Uranium at Iran's Fordow facility, claiming that Tehran made an "unnotified change" to the facility's devices.

While the IAEA's eyes are solely on Iran, the latter has constantly warned that the Israeli advanced nuclear program poses a serious threat to international security and stability. Concurrently, Russia has repeatedly raised a red flag regarding the consequences if Ukraine uses the "dirty bomb".