France calls for tougher sanctions against Iran after Moscow talks

“Sanctions will continue to be toughened as long as Iran refuses serious negotiations,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Tuesday.

The French official added that pressure on Tehran would be increased with the full implementation of the European Union oil sanction against Iran as of July 1.

The comments come after Iran and P5+1 -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany - wrapped up two days of their latest round of talks in the Russian capital of Moscow on June 19.

The UK and France have announced plans to strengthen their illegal bans on Tehran.

This is while the powers could not come up with a convincing explanation regarding their opposition to Iran’s legitimate right to uranium enrichment activities and peaceful use of nuclear energy during the latest round of the multifaceted talks with Tehran and called for the continuation of negotiations.

Iran and the P5+1 held three sessions of plenary talks in Baghdad in May after an earlier round of negotiations in the Turkish city of Istanbul in mid-April.

They had previously held two rounds of talks, one in Geneva, Switzerland, in December 2010, and another in Istanbul in January 2011.

The United States and some of its allies have imposed a series of sanctions against Iran, claiming that the country's nuclear energy program may include a military aspect.

Tehran refutes the allegation, noting that frequent inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency have never found any evidence of diversion in Iran's nuclear energy program toward military purposes.