UN, EU Urge Support For Iran Nuclear Deal

The United Nations and European Union called for continued support for the nuclear agreement reached between Iran and six world powers on the second anniversary of the landmark deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPAO).

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Friday urged “all member states to support further pursuit of this historic agreement.”

“I shall continue to support the implementation of the JCPOA, in accordance with resolution 2231 and other relevant decisions of the Security Council.” Guterres said in a statement, IRNA reported on Saturday.

The UN chief said the deal “gives us all hope that the most complex issues in this domain can be addressed through dialogue, understanding and cooperation.”

“I am confident that the JCPOA is the best way to ensure the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program and realize the great aspiration of the Iranian people,” Guterres continued.

“Two years on, I am encouraged by the continued implementation of the plan. I commend the Islamic Republic of Iran for implementing its nuclear-related commitments, as verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency,” he said.

“It is in the interest of the international community that this achievement of multilateral diplomacy endures transitions and implementation challenges cementing our collective commitment to diplomacy and dialogue,” Guterres stressed.

All must remain committed

EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said all sides to the nuclear agreement must remain committed to their obligations under the deal which was agreed by Iran and the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany on July 14, 2015.

Mogherini described the JCPOA as a “historic achievement” for the security of the region and the whole world, a “success for multilateral diplomacy that has proven to work and deliver.”

“This deal belongs to the international community, having been endorsed by the United Nations Security Council, that expects all sides to keep the commitments they took two years ago,” she added.

Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany started implementing the JCPOA on January 16, 2016.

Under the agreement, limits were put on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for, among other things, the removal of all nuclear-related bans against the Islamic Republic.

The UN Security Council later unanimously endorsed a resolution that effectively turned the JCPOA into international law.

Mogherini further said through the Joint Commission of the JCPOA, which she coordinates, she is monitoring “very closely the full implementation of the deal in all its parts.”

The top EU official stressed the importance of the regular meetings of the Joint Commission in order to “ensure transparency, constant dialogue and implementation by all” and noted that the next meeting of the commission is scheduled to be held in the Austrian capital Vienna on July 21.

“In my capacity as coordinator, my task is and will stay to ensure that the deal is fully and effectively implemented by all sides,” Mogherini said.

She emphasized that the 28-nation bloc “is and will stay committed in preserving and implementing” the JCPOA, vowing to build on it to address the “remaining unresolved sources of tension and conflict that are still afflicting the region.”

Mogherini said, “A stable and peaceful environment in a conflict-free and cooperative regional order remains our ultimate objective.”