Iran deal ‘is working’, it belongs to world community, not to US, says EU foreign policy chief

NEW YORK, September 19./TASS/. The Iran deal is working, and Tehran complies with its commitments, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told reporters in New York on Monday. "I’ve said many times - the deal is working and the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) has certified that Iran is compliant with this commitment for seven times by now," High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said. In comments on the President Donald Trump administration’s plans to pull out of the deal, the foreign policy chief stressed that "the deal does not belong to one country or another, the deal belongs to the international community". She said "our role as European Union and my personal role is to make sure that the deal continues to be fully implemented by all sides". Motherini said a ministerial meeting of the P5+1 countries (Russia, the UK, China, the US, France and Germany) and Iran is due on September 20. She said this is "in itself a good sign" as usually such regular meetings are held at the deputy ministerial meeting. On July 14, 2015, Iran and a group of six world powers (five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) reached an agreement on resolving the persisting Iranian nuclear problem by adopting the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). On January 16, 2016, it was announced that the implementation of this plan endorsed by the relevant UN Security Council resolution began. This plan envisages removal of the sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear program by the UN, the US and the European Union. In return, Tehran pledged to limit its nuclear activities placing them under international control. Donald Trump levelled sharp criticism at the agreement many times during his election race and upon accepting the presidential office. He claimed it gave one-sided advantages to Iran. On August 16, UN Ambassador Nikki Haley called into question the importance of the nuclear deal with Iran, saying it enabled Teheran to hold the entire world hostage Russia plans to call on the U.S. to refrain from pulling out of the agreement on Iran's nuclear program when the P5+1 countries -- five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany -- meet with Iran next Wednesday in New York, Russia's Ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya told reporters on Friday. When a reporter asked him about the message Russia would try to communicate to the U.S. at the forthcoming meeting, he said it would be an appeal to stay within the JCPOA, adding he thought this would be not only Russia's message, as other signatories to the agreement and players would seek to tell the Americans something along much the same lines. Read more