FM Zarif:

All but one stressed non-negotiability of N-deal

TEHRAN (defapress) – Iran’s FM Zarif said all but one member of the 5+1 group of countries have stressed full commitment to the implementation of nuclear deal, voicing disinterest in reopening the agreement.

News ID: 65999

Date: 21 September 2017 - 11:42

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday in New York following the 5+1 joint commission’s meeting, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the meeting explicitly revealed that the view of the international community toward the JCPOA is as a multilateral agreement, not a bilateral one. The foreign ministers of the seven countries also stressed the UN Security Council resolution and voiced their consensus on the necessity of the full implementation of the nuclear deal.

"We raised our objection about a number of instances in which the new US government has failed to abide by its commitments under the deal, as well as the remarks made by some American authorities that we have found inappropriate. We also discussed JCPOA regulations, some of which could be interpreted as violations of articles 26, 28 and 29,” Zarif said.

He went on to add, "we talked about the US failure in implementing its JCPOA-related commitments. All government representatives present at the meeting stressed on the full implementation of the nuclear deal from all parties.”

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson described his meeting with Zarif as "matter-of-fact, there was no yelling”, adding with a chuckle that we didn't throw shoes at one another." He went on to add, however, that he was not sure whether they would be able to agree on the future of the Iranian nuclear deal.

On the other hand, the European Union's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, made clear that European parties to the deal aren't interested in revisiting the nuclear agreement.

"There is no need to reopen the agreement because it's fully delivering" and Iran is abiding by it, Mogherini said, adding "this is an agreement that prevented a nuclear program and potentially prevented a military intervention.”

She went on to maintain that, "it's not for one party or the other to certify” that Iran is sticking to the agreement, but that is the job for the International Atomic Energy Agency, "with its technical independent role.”

All seven reports so far released by the IAEA confirm Iran’s full commitment to the nuclear deal.