by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Washington : US President Donald Trump has planned to announce next week that he will “decertify” the landmark Iran nuclear deal, a move that could lead to the potential collapse of the agreement.
Trump was expected to roll out a broader US strategy on Iran, in which his decision on the nuclear deal was an important part, Xinhua quoted officials as saying.
On October 15, Trump is due to testify to Congress whether Tehran is complying with the deal and whether it remains in the US interests in sticking to it.
If he decides it is not, it could open the way for US lawmakers to re-impose sanctions, leading to the potential collapse of the agreement.
Trump has long criticised the Iran nuclear pact, a signature deal reached between Iran and the world six powers of Britain, China, France, Russia and the US plus Germany in July 2015.
In his speech delivered at UN General Assembly last month, Trump called the agreement “an embarrassment” for the US and indicated that he may not re-certify the deal at its mid-October deadline.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned earlier that Tehran will only abide by the provisions under the nuclear deal if the other parties remain committed to it.
The Iran nuclear deal, officially known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, has helped defuse the Iran nuclear crisis and bolster the international non-proliferation regime.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Washington : US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said on Tuesday that it was in America’s national interest to stay in a landmark deal clinched between Iran and six world powers to curb Iran’s nuclear programme.
Mattis’ remarks at a congressional hearing came at a time when US President Donald Trump is weighing whether to abandon the deal negotiated during the Obama administration, Xinhua reported.
“The point I would make is, if we can confirm that Iran is living by the agreement, if we can determine that this is in our best interest, then clearly, we should stay with it,” Mattis testified at a Senate hearing.
“I believe, at this point in time, absent indications to the contrary, it is something the president should consider staying with,” Mattis added.
The retired four-star general also replied “yes” when asked if it was in America’s national interest to stay in the deal that was clinched in July 2015 between Iran and the six world powers of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States after decade-long negotiations.
Mattis’ remarks were seemingly contradictory to Trump’s speech delivered last month at the UN General Assembly, who called the agreement “an embarrassment” for the United States and indicated that he may not recertify the deal at its mid-October deadline.
Iranian leaders have reacted strongly to Trump’s remarks, saying such hostile words will not intimidate the Islamic Republic.
On October 15, Trump is due to testify to Congress whether Tehran is complying with the deal and whether it remains in the U.S. interests to stick by it.
If he decides it is not, it could open the way for US lawmakers to reimpose sanctions, leading to the potential collapse of the agreement.
The Iran nuclear deal, officially known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, has helped defuse the Iran nuclear crisis and bolster the international non-proliferation regime.
Earlier last month, the International Atomic Energy Agency, a UN nuclear watchdog, said that Iran was playing by the rules set out in the nuclear accord.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel
United Nations : German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has stressed on the importance of preserving the international agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, warning that its crumble would have spillover effects on non-proliferation and disarmament.
“It is more important than ever that the international architecture for arms control and disarmament does not crumble. Existing treaties and agreements must not be called into question. That applies in particular to Iran’s nuclear agreement,” Gabriel told the UN General Assembly on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.
The July 2015 agreement between Iran and the six world powers is not only about Iran, but also about the credibility of the international community, said Gabriel.
“Which state would refrain from developing its own nuclear program if it turns out that negotiated agreements do not endure, and confidence in agreements with the international community is not worth the paper they are written on?” he asked.
“How are we going to convince countries like North Korea that international agreements provide them security, and in so doing make them commit to further disarmament efforts, if the only international example for such an endeavor being successful — the agreement with Iran — no longer has effect?”
Germany will work within the framework of what he called “E3+3” — the three European countries of Britain, France, Germany, plus China, Russia and the United States — to ensure that the Iran nuclear deal is strictly implemented and upheld, he said.
“The agreement is a way out of an impasse of nuclear confrontation which would jeopardize regional security and have an impact far beyond the region,” said Gabriel.
His speech is in contrast with US President Donald Trump’s speech to the General Assembly on Tuesday, in which he berated Iran and threatened to withdraw from the international agreement.
Trump also called the Iran nuclear deal, reached during former US President Barack Obama’s administration in 2015, “an embarrassment” for the United States.
In an obvious response to Trump’s “America First” mantra, Gabriel said the world needs more cooperation, less “national egoism”.
“The motto of ‘our country first’ not only leads to more national confrontation and less prosperity, in the end there are only losers,” Gabriel said.
On the situation on the Korean Peninsula, he said, “We have to make use of all our diplomatic means to defuse tension before finding a point of departure for a long-term solution.”
The nuclear issue, if unresolved, will create a more dangerous world “as other countries may follow the example of North Korea,” he said. “Therefore North Korea acquiring nuclear weapons is neither a bilateral, nor a regional problem. Rather, it is a global challenge.”
“It cannot be that striving to build a nuclear arsenal leads to success on the international stage,” he said. “We have to send a clear message that the international community will not accept North Korea’s nuclear provocations.”
Germany welcomes the sanctions adopted by the UN Security Council and is calling for their swift implementation at European level, he said, adding that the European Union has intentions to impose its own sanctions.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Tehran : A senior military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader said on Sunday that inspecting Iranian military sites under the pretext of the international nuclear deal is “impossible”, state TV reported.
The nuclear agreement signed between Iran and world’s six major powers two years ago allows no inspection of Iran’s military sites, Major General Hassan Firouzabadi said on Sunday, Xinhua reported.
He slammed recent comments made by Nikki Haley, US ambassador to the United Nations, in her visit to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, as an attempt by Washington to undermine the nuclear agreement.
On Friday, Haley said Iran has publicly declared that they will not allow access to military sites. But the international agreement in 2015 makes no distinction between military and non-military sites, said Haley after she returned from Vienna.
Firouzabadi said Haley is the U.S. agent to hatch a “new plot and she is lying”.
On Sunday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Bhram qasemi, also emphasized the IAEA inspections in Iran would be carried out only within the framework of the country’s policies.
After years of tension with the West, Iran struck a deal with the five world powers of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States in July 2015 on a comprehensive deal, under which Iran agreed to limit its uranium-enrichment activities in return for the lifting of western and international sanctions.
The IAEA is responsible for the verification of Iran’s compliance with the agreement through regular access to all Iranian nuclear facilities.
The international agreement is facing serious threats of collapse as tensions mounted between Washington and Tehran recently.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Tehran : (IANS) The implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear programme will eliminate obstacles in the way of the country’s accession to the SCO, Russian presidential envoy to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Bakhtier Khakimov said.
The implementation of the Iran nuclear agreement eliminates the barriers for Iran to join the SCO, IRNA news agency quoted Khakimov as saying on Friday.
SCO Secretary General Dmitry Mezentsev had said in July that Iran’s full membership in the organisation was not possible so far because of the sanctions.
On July 14, Iran and the P5+1 group — the US, Britain, Germany, France, China, and Russia — concluded negotiations over Tehran’s civilian nuclear programme, with the Islamic Republic and the sextet sealing an agreement.
According to the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), all economic and financial sanctions against Iran will be removed.
In addition, all bans on Iran’s Central Bank, shipping, oil industry, and many other companies will be lifted.
The official added that after the implementation of the JCPOA begins, the SCO will put Iran’s membership request on its agenda and the country can become a full member of the organisation.
The secretary general of the SCO said the organisation was currently cooperating with Iran on various levels, saying: “Since 2005, Iran has been attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s meetings as observer member.”
At present, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation has six permanent members: China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Iran, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Mongolia are observer states while Turkey, Sri Lanka, and Belarus are “dialogue partners” of the organisation.
