Iran's nuclear programme nearing point of no return, France's Macron says

PARIS, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Iran's disputed uranium enrichment drive is nearing a point of no return and European partners to a moribund 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran should consider reimposing sanctions if there is no progress with Tehran, France's president said on Monday.

Addressing an annual conference with French ambassadors to outline foreign policy objectives in 2025, President Emmanuel Macron described Iran as the main "strategic and security challenge" for France and Europe.

"The acceleration of the nuclear programme leads us nearly to the point of no return," Macron said.

Iran says it is enriching uranium for peaceful purposes and has stepped up the programme since U.S. President-elect Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the 2015 deal during his first term of office and restored tough U.S. sanctions on Tehran.

European powers France, Germany and Britain said last month Iran’s actions had further hollowed out the deal and would heighten its stockpile of high-enriched uranium without a "credible civilian justification".

The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said in December that the Islamic Republic was "dramatically" accelerating enrichment close to the roughly 90% level that is bomb-grade.

The three European powers were co-signatories to the 2015 deal in which Iran agreed to curb enrichment, seen by the West as a disguised effort to develop nuclear-weapons capability, in return for a lifting of international sanctions.

French, German and British diplomats are set to hold a follow-up meeting with Iranian counterparts on Jan. 13 after one last month held to discuss the possibility of serious negotiations in coming months to defuse tensions with Tehran with Trump due to return to the White House on Jan. 20.

"In the coming months we will have to ask ourselves whether to use ... the mechanism to restore sanctions," Macron said, referring to October 2025 when the 2015 accord formally expires.

Macron said Iran's ballistic missiles and support for Russia also posed threats to Europe and this would become one of the main dossiers to be addressed in diplomacy with Trump after he took office.

Reporting by John Irish; Editing by GV De Clercq and Mark Heinrich