France says Iran must stop ‘particularly worrying’ nuclear reductions

France said on Wednesday that Iran must refrain from a new phase of “particularly worrying” reductions to its nuclear commitments.

“Iran must abstain from crossing an especially worrying new phase of new measures that could contribute to an escalation in tensions,” French foreign ministry spokeswoman Agnes von der Muhll told reporters in a daily briefing.

She was responding after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday that Tehran was working on advanced IR-9 centrifuges for uranium enrichment. Those centrifuges do not appear in the 2015 accord.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday that Tehran would continue to scale back its commitments to the 2015 nuclear agreement until the European Union fulfils promises it made under the deal.

Iran has gradually scaled back its nuclear commitments since May. Rouhani, speaking on state television, also said Iran would start working on more advance uranium enrichment centrifuges.