Zarif: EU tries to bring US into compliance with its obligations under Deal

Speaking to reporters upon arrival in New York Thursday night to participate in the UN General Assembly meeting on sustaining peace, Zarif said the wrong policies of the US could drag the region to a very dangerous point particularly in Syria.

Zarif said his presence in New York would provide him with an opportunity to hold talks with some think tanks, media outlets, editors-in-chief and political elites outside the US administration.

Referring to the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and G5+1, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and a possible US exit from the deal, Zarif said the Islamic Republic will certainly act based on its interests and has numerous choices both within and out of the JCPOA to make.

'Definitely, the measures the Islamic Republic will take and the reaction the international community will show will be very unpleasant for the Americans,' the Iranian foreign minister said.

To a question about EU's plans to impose new sanctions against Iran to encourage President Trump to remain in nuclear deal, Zarif said,' We have been clear that Iran has been performing its obligations on the Deal. Unfortunately, the United States, particulary under the Trump administration, has failed to implement its part of the bargain.

'If the European countries want to preserve the Deal, they have to make it sustainable for Iran and that is they need to impose pressure on the United States and encourage it to implement what it did undertake undr the Deal.

'Unfortunately, the US has been in clear violation of its commitments. It should not impede trade with Iran which is a very clear commitment of the US under the Deal and this administration has obviously been working in contradiction to that obligation.

'So, I believe it's much more important for the EU to try to bring the US into compliance with its obligations under the Deal.'

US President Donald Trump is to announce his decision on the JCPOA and extension of sanctions waiver on May 12. Trump had announced in January that the US would not stay in the deal unless it was modified.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has announced time and again that the JCPOA is not negotiable and not even a single line can be dropped from or added to the deal.

On the UN session, Zarif said one of the reasons behind his trip to New York is to participate in an special meeting of the UN General Assembly on sustaining peace.

He said during the meeting he would outline the Islamic Republic's attitudes and proposals on holding dialogues and establishing durable security in the Persian Gulf.

Zarif said he would also set forth the idea of a strong region with durable security and calm, as proposed by the government of President Hassan Rouhani, during the General Assembly meet and discuss it with other members.

During his six-day stay in New York, the Iranian foreign minister is also scheduled to meet UN Secretary General António Guterres and some of his counterparts besides delivering a speech at the US Council on Foreign Relations.

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