SpaceWar.com reports: “Britain, France and Germany on Tuesday pressed Iran to ‘immediately halt its nuclear escalation’ after the UN nuclear watchdog reported Tehran had sharply stepped up uranium enrichment activity.

‘We, the governments of France, Germany and the United Kingdom, condemn Iran’s latest steps… to expand its nuclear programme,’ the three countries said in a joint statement.

Iran has revamped an enrichment plant at Fordo, south of Tehran, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report seen by AFP.

The changes would ‘significantly increase the rate of production of uranium enriched up to 60 percent’, the IAEA said — on its way to the 90 percent needed to make a nuclear weapon.

Berlin, London and Paris, who along with the United States have held talks with Iran said they ‘strongly urge Iran to reverse these steps, and to immediately halt its nuclear escalation’.

They recalled that their diplomats had met the Iranians in Geneva last week to discuss the country’s nuclear programme ‘and reiterated their commitment to dialogue and constructive behaviour’.

Iran insists on its right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and has consistently denied any ambition of developing weapons capability…”