French President Emmanuel Macron called on Iran Tuesday to "immediately" reduce its enriched uranium reserves, a day after Tehran announced it had breached limits under a 2015 nuclear deal to retaliate against new US sanctions.

In a statement, Macron said he had "noted with concern" Tehran's overstepping of the limit set in the 2015 deal with world powers and called on Iran "to immediately reverse this overshoot and abstain from any other measure that would undermine its nuclear obligations".

The French leader said he would continue in the coming days to work towards a resolution of the standoff between Iran and the US that would see Tehran "fully respect its obligations and continue to benefit from the economic advantages of the (2015) deal."

Iran announced in May that it would no longer respect the limit set on its enriched uranium and heavy water stockpiles.

The move was seen as a way of exerting pressure on Europe to try and salvage the deal which has been hanging by a thread since US President Donald Trump announced that he was withdrawing from the accord and reimposing biting sanctions on Tehran.

On Monday, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran had now exceeded the limit on its enriched uranium reserves.

Trump accused the country of "playing with fire".

China 'regrets' Iran's decision to exceed uranium limit
Beijing (AFP) July 2, 2019 - China said Tuesday it regrets Iran's decision to exceed a limit on enriched uranium reserves under a 2015 nuclear deal, but said US "maximum pressure is the root cause" of tensions.

Iran said Monday it had made good on its warning that it would breach the limit, prompting US President Donald Trump to warn that Tehran was "playing with fire".

The United States withdrew from the nuclear deal last year and hit Iran's crucial oil exports and financial transactions as well as other sectors with biting sanctions.

Tehran, which has sought to pressure the remaining parties to save the deal, announced on May 8 that it would no longer respect the limit set on its enriched uranium and heavy water stockpiles.

It threatened to abandon further nuclear commitments unless the remaining partners -- Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia -- helped it circumvent sanctions, especially to sell its oil.

"China regrets the measures taken by Iran, but at the same time, we have emphasised on many previous occasions that the US's maximum pressure is the root cause of the current fraught tensions," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular press briefing.

"We call on all parties to view this from a long-term and overall perspective, exercise restraint and uphold the JCPOA (nuclear deal) together so that there won't be further escalation in the tense situation," Geng said.

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Iran says European plan to bypass US sanctions falls short
Tehran (AFP) July 1, 2019
The mechanism set up by European powers to help Iran skirt US sanctions will be of limited use but it has highlighted a welcome distance between Washington and its allies, Tehran's top diplomat said Monday. The EU said Friday after a crisis meeting aimed at salvaging a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers that the INSTEX payment mechanism was finally "operational" and that the first transactions were being processed. "Although it does not meet the demands of the Islamic rep ... read more