UN, EU: Iran Nuclear Deal Must Be Maintained
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The United Nations, the European Union and the US reaffirmed their commitment to the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, stressing that the agreement is working and must be preserved.
On Wednesday, speaker after speaker at a UN Security Council meeting on implementation of the deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), stressed its historic nature and its success after its first year.
UN Political Chief Jeffrey Feltman said the nuclear agreement "is a good example of how multilateral diplomacy, political will and perseverance can resolve the most complex issues”, AP reported.
"It is imperative that its participants, the United Nations and the broader international community continue to support the full implementation of this historic multilateral agreement for its full duration," he said. "It's comprehensive and sustained implementation guarantees that Iran's nuclear program remains exclusively peaceful.”
EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini hailed the deal as "a major achievement" and said all participants have fulfilled their commitments, citing "a staggering 63 percent" rise in EU-Iran trade in the first three quarters of 2016 as one example of the results of lifting sanctions.
Outgoing US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power said the agreement "shows the life-and-death importance of hard-nosed diplomacy."
She added that the deal is working and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed that Tehran has dismantled two-thirds of its centrifuges and shipped out 98 percent of its enriched uranium.
US President-elect Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated on Friday, has threatened to either scrap the nuclear agreement or seek a better deal.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France, and Germany) reached the nuclear deal in July 2015 and implemented it in January last year.
