SHAFAQNA- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the 2015 nuclear deal addresses all important issues and there is nothing left untold in the deal.
Speaking at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) during a visit to Sweden, Zarif said Wednesday that Iran has already fulfilled all of its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, which enshrines it.
“This is an agreement, this was not a diktat,” he said. “We did not dictate it to the other side obviously, but the other side did not obviously dictate it to us to some people’s chagrin”, press tv told.
“It seems like there has been a revolution in America in 2016, because they are not committed to respecting international law, and someone like John Bolton is using human rights as a tool of pressure against others”, the Iranian foreign minister underlined.
The foreign minister reiterated that since the US left the deal, the Europeans have not yet fulfilled their obligations while Iran remains committed.
Referring to the third step in reducing JCPOA’s commitments, Zarif noted that the third step will definitely be stronger than previous steps. “We have announced our options to Europe.”
He added that Iran has a predicted behavior; it must also receive predicted behavior, but the Trump administration does not. Unreasonable American behavior is not predicted, and they behave out of context.
Zarif said that “we were facing a government” that had violated its commitments. “We had resolution 598” about 30 years ago. On regional issues, a meeting of the Security Council was held and a resolution was issued, and on the basis of an agreement, Iran has fulfilled all its obligations.
Iranian foreign minister also responded to a question about the possibility of the holding talks with the United States, saying “on negotiating with the United States, we did negotiate with the United States. This is not as if this agreement was negotiated in vacuum. This agreement was negotiated through many hard hours, long hours of negotiations and I know as a person who negotiated it that if we open it up, we will open a Pandora’s box that we will never be able to close. That’s why we are prepared to help the United States to come back to this agreement. But, we cannot allow an agreement that was fully negotiated to be opened up to be renegotiated”, according to Mehr News Agency.
Zarif stated that in the current situation, humanity is the main issue in the international law. “International law should be for everyone and nobody should be an exception to it.”
“Today, security developments in Afghanistan and Syria are affecting Europe and the whole world. This is a sign of the importance of insecurity in the various fields, and it shows that multilateralism is not a choice, but a necessity”, the high-ranking official added.
Zarif pointed out that achieving security in the world alone is not enough, but it requires the cooperation of all countries in the world.
When a country wants to stay safe at the expense of others’ insecurity, it faces unpleasant surprises, including when the US fails to provide its citizens with enormous military funding, he said.
Ian Eliasson, Chair of the SIPRI Governing Board, also emphasized the importance of the JCPOA and went on to say that this agreement needs to be maintained and he has traveled to Iran twice. He expressed regret for the failure of Europe to fulfill its obligations and believes that INSTEX should be operational as a solution to this issue.
There is a big problem about the danger of war in the region and certainly a regional agreement can be effective in this area.
“We must try to prevent such crises from happening elsewhere in the world and not let the region go into a new crisis,” Eliasson said.
He stressed that in today’s world, victory is not achieved through military action, IRNA reported.
Mohammad Javad Zarif met with Swedish Parliament Speaker Andreas Norlén on Wednesday afternoon to discuss bilateral cooperation, particularly parliamentary cooperation and travel between Iran and Sweden, as well as the JCPOA and latest regional and international developments.
Excellent talks with the Swedish officials
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a message welcomed excellent talks with the Swedish officials.
“On my 2nd stop in Scandinavia, met w/ Sweden’s PM, FM, Speaker & former PM @carlbildt. Excellent discussions on issues of mutual interest & on ways to meaningfully preserve the #JCPOA,” Zarif tweeted on Wednesday.
“Also held meetings with business leaders, intellectuals, & other dignitaries. Next stop: Norway,” he added.
Zarif departed for the Norwegian capital of Oslo on Wednesday evening to meet the EU-member country’s senior officials.
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