UN Chief warns against endangering Iran Nuclear Deal
UNITED NATIONS, (MILLAT ONLINE):UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on nations not to damage Iran’s 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers because of concerns they may have with the Islamic Republic’s non-nuclear military activities in the Middle East.
“The (nuclear deal) constitutes a major achievement of nuclear non-proliferation and diplomacy, and has contributed to regional and international peace and security,” the Secretary-General’s Spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said .
Dujarric added that issues related to the the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) must be “addressed through the mechanisms established by the agreement.”
The remarks were made after US President Donald Trump’s recent attempts to change Iran’s nuclear deal with the world powers.
On Friday, Trump extended waivers of economic sanctions on Iran for another 120 days but said he was doing so for the last time.
Trump said he wanted Congress to pass a bill requiring “timely, sufficient, and immediate inspections” at all sites by inspectors of International Atomic energy Agency (IAEA), and the indefinite extension of limits on Iran’s uranium enrichment and other nuclear activities.”
The Trump administration has repeatedly criticized Iran’s ballistic-missile development as well as support for Syria’s government in a six-year civil war and its backing of Yemeni Huthi rebels, while demanding major changes in the nuclear deal.
Iran has ruled out any changes in the agreement, maintaining that Trump’s demands violate terms of the deal sealed by the administration of former U.S. President Barack Obama and signed by Britain, France, Germany, China, and Russia.
While the Trump administration insists that Iran’s testing of ballistic missiles that are capable of carrying nuclear weapons violates the “spirit” of the nuclear accord, Guterres noted that the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly concluded that Iran is fulfilling its side of the agreement.