US Seeking to Prevent Iran from Reaping JCPOA Benefits: FM Zarif
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the US government is trying to prevent the Islamic Republic from enjoying the benefits of the 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers.
“The new US administration is seeking to prevent the Islamic Republic from enjoying the benefits of the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) and this is a violation of the JCPOA’s text,” Zarif said on Saturday in a meeting with European Union Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini in Tehran.
Mogherini arrived in the Iranian capital to partake in the inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who won a second term in May election.
The Iranian minister added that US President Donald Trump is trying to scuttle the deal at the expense of Iran, urging Europe to remain vigilant.
He also said that the country’s recent launch of a satellite carrier was not against the Security Council Resolution 2231 that endorsed the JCPOA.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) reached the 159-page nuclear agreement in July 2015 and implemented it in January 2016.
Mogherini, for her part, said the European Union will continue its full support for the deal, calling on all parties to take “wise” and “appropriate” measures with respect to the nuclear agreement.
Since the historic deal was signed in Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly confirmed the Islamic Republic’s compliance with its commitments under the JCPOA, but some other parties, especially the US, have failed to live up to their undertakings.
The two sides further discussed the expansion of bilateral ties as well as the latest developments in the region, Syria in particular.