French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Wednesday warned that if world powers were unable to quickly reach a new agreement with Iran over its contested nuclear programme, a military confrontation is inevitable.

Barrot, while speaking after President Emmanuel Macron convened a rare and undisclosed meeting of key ministers and experts on Wednesday to discuss the Iran dossier, appeared to ramp up the pressure on Tehran.

European powers are said to be seeking to create a diplomatic path with a view to getting an agreement to curb Iran’s uranium enrichment activity by the summer and ahead of an October 2025 deadline, when UN sanctions related to a 2015 accord on Iran’s nuclear programme with world powers expire.

According to Western powers, the nuclear programme amounts to a disguised effort to develop an atomic bomb.

Meanwhile, Iran has long denied seeking nuclear weapons.

“The window of opportunity is narrow. We only have a few months until the expiration of this (2015) accord. In case of failure, a military confrontation would seem to be almost inevitable,” Barrot said.

Military confrontation inevitable without new Iran nuclear deal – France