FM Zarif urges US to reconsider its approach towards JCPOA

“The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) proved that followers of the policy of pressure have finally realized its inefficiency, therefore, the US should also reconsider its approach towards the agreement,” Zarif said upon his arrival at the airport in New York Thursday afternoon local time (early Friday morning in Tehran).

Zarif travelled to US to partake in the United Nations' High-Level Political Forum 2017.

“Those who pressurized Iran saw that the measures would not result in what they sought, and finally found out that the agreement is the best achievement they could ever reach,” Zarif told reporters at the airport.

He added that all parties to the historic nuclear deal have achieved what they wanted, as the nature of negotiation is being comprehensive.

The JCPOA was signed on July 14, 2015 between Iran and the Group 5+1 (US, Russia, Britain, France and China plus Germany).

“In the current phase, we expect all parties to stay committed to the JCPOA but, unfortunately, we witnessed that the US has so far, accepted and been faithful to the agreement to the smallest extent and therefore, prevented Iran to completely benefit from it by adopting wrong approaches and policies which are against the spirit of the agreement,” Zarif said.

“We believe that the American leaders should change their approach towards the agreement, otherwise they would not be contributing to its survival,” the Foreign Minister added.

Noting that partaking in the UN sustainable development forum is on his agenda in the visit to New York, Zarif said, “Iran, on the basis of its cultural and religious beliefs, has been on the path towards the 17 Millennium Development Goals in various sectors, even before the current discussions and decisions, and these should be introduced to other countries and the international community.”

Zarif added that while in New York, he would meet cultural figures, experts from think tanks and other institutes, and those influential in public opinion to explain to the international community the issues that have resulted in instability of the Middle East and have put the allied countries in front of each other.

Answering to questions on any possible meeting with Western politicians, including the US Congressmen or the Secretary of State, he said, “No plan has been made to this end.”

As to the agreement among Russia, Jordan and the US for a ceasefire in the southwestern Syria, he said that Tehran has always been supporting initiatives of ending the conflicts and creating a vast alliance to confront terrorism and extremist groups, such as Daesh (ISIS) and Al-Nusra Front to overcome the crisis which has caused a chaos in the region.

“Now, all our efforts are focused on a comprehensive ceasefire in coordination with Russia and Turkey through Astana talks, to send the humanitarian helps and relieve the Syrian people’s sufferings and pains,” Zarif asserted.

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