All parties must continue to implement nuclear deal: China FM
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged all signatories to the multilateral 2015 agreement on Iran’s nuclear program to continue its implementation amid US threats to withdraw from the deal.
Wang made the remark in a phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Saturday, a day after US President Donald Trump once again threatened to withdraw from the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), if some "disastrous flaws" were not fixed.
It is the responsibility of all parties concerned and the common wish of the international community to continue to implement the pact, Xinhua news agency quoted Wang as saying during the call.
He said Beijing would continue playing a constructive role in maintaining and implementing the JCPOA, adding that the deal would help maintain peace and stability in the region and solve "other hot issues" around the world.
The top Chinese diplomat noted that the implementation of the accord had not been "derailed" but would face "some new complicating factors."
He also urged Iran to continue to fulfill its commitments under the JCPOA.
The US president on Friday reluctantly agreed to waive sanctions against Iran that were lifted as part of the landmark deal, but said it would be the last time he issued such a waiver unless conditions were met.
Trump said he wanted America's European allies to use the 120-day period before sanctions relief again came up for renewal to agree to tougher measures and new conditions, otherwise Washington would pull out of the deal.
Zarif slammed Trump's reluctant announcement on Iran's nuclear sanctions waiver as a "desperate attempt" to undermine the deal.
He responded on Twitter that the deal was not renegotiable and that Trump's stance "amounts to desperate attempts to undermine a solid multilateral agreement."
Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China – plus Germany signed the nuclear agreement on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016.
Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.
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