The Iranian government must comply with the terms of the 2015 accord limiting its nuclear programme in order to see the United States return to the deal, a French presidency official said Tuesday.

France and Britain on Monday joined a growing list of nations starting mass vaccinations for all elderly citizens as London began quarantining arrivals to try and halt the spread of a new Covid-19 variant. 

The French drive aims to cover all people over 75 and comes after Brazil and India, which figure among the worst-affected countries, administered their first jabs over the weekend.

The French government is expected Thursday to announce new restrictions to stave off a rise in coronavirus cases but unlike some of its neighbours a full lockdown appears off the agenda for now. 

The French government on Monday faced growing pressure to accelerate its Covid-19 vaccination drive, with President Emmanuel Macron reportedly also furious over the slow pace of progress.

Hundreds of revellers were booked for breaking coronavirus restrictions as an illegal rave in northwestern France ended on Saturday after more than two days of partying that saw clashes with police.

France's first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine were delivered early Saturday to the Paris hospital system's central pharmacy outside the capital, an AFP journalist saw.

France and Britain will reopen cross-border travel Wednesday after a snap 48-hour ban to curb the spread of a new coronavirus variant threatened UK supply chains.

Much of Europe swiftly banned British travellers and UK freight entering their nations after the discovery of a more transmissible variant of Covid-19 in Britain.

Three police were shot dead in Puy-de-Dome in central France on Wednesday after being called out to a domestic disturbance, sources in the public prosecutor's office told AFP.

Judges will issue their verdict Wednesday on 14 suspected accomplices of the Islamist gunmen who murdered some of France's most famous cartoonists at weekly Charlie Hebo in 2015, killings that horrified the nation.

President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday seeks his cabinet's blessing for draft legislation combatting "radical Islamism" after a spate of attacks, which critics fear risks targeting all Muslims.

Macron argues the legislation is needed to shore up France's staunchly secular system but the plan has further stirred up social tensions over the consequences for Europe's largest Muslim community.