PARIS, May 12 (Xinhuanet) -- French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier on Thursday urged Iran not to resume uranium.

    "We continue to hope that Iran will not take this step, the consequences of which it is well aware," Barnier said solemnly.

    "We want to get this position across to the authorities in Tehran," he said.

    Any decision to start converting uranium would "be counter to the Paris agreement and resolutions adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency, he added.

    French Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Cecile Pozzo di Borgo earlier in the day called on Iran not to resume suspended nuclear operations and to maintain negotiations in order to resolve the latest crisis over its nuclear program.

    Uranium conversion involves turning raw uranium into UF6 gas. This gas can be fed into centrifuges that refine out enriched uranium, which can be directed towards making fuel for atomic reactors or the core of a nuclear weapon. Enditem