JCPOA Belongs to Whole World, Not Just US, Says Mogherini

European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, says the nuclear agreement signed between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries works fine and belongs to the entire world, not just the United States.

 “I have said many times that the agreement is working fine, [and] the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) [has] confirmed several times that Iran is fulfilling its obligations,” Mogherini said on Monday.

Commenting on the possible US withdrawal from the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), she said the agreement was not signed with one country.

“This deal belongs to the international community,” the top EU diplomat said.

 US President Donald Trump, who had made no secret of opposing the nuclear agreement in his election campaign, has threatened to “tear up” the agreement, calling it “the worst deal ever negotiated.”

The United State, which is a party to the landmark nuclear agreement, seems to be laying out a case for abandoning it, with Trump having expressed his readiness to declare Iran in breach of its side of the JCPOA as early as next month.

However, Washington’s European allies seek to prevent the collapse of the deal and are stepping up efforts to convince Trump not to abandon it as world leaders have gathered in New York for the 72nd annual session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Mogherini added that she acknowledged the EU’s task to make sure that all parties to the JCPOA were fully implementing their obligations under the deal.

Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China – plus Germanysigned the nuclear agreement on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016.

Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limitations on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.

The senior EU official further noted that the ministerial meeting of the Iran-P5+1 Joint Commission monitoring the implementation of the JCPOA would be held on September 20.

Britain strongly supports JCPOA, says Johnson

In a separate development, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson also on Monday expressed his country’s firm support for efforts made to ensure implementation of the JCPOA.

In a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad JavadZarif in New York, the two sides stressed the importance of improving bilateral relations and discussed ways to enhance banking and consular cooperation.

Zarif and Johnson also exchanged views on leading regional issues, including the developments in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain and Afghanistan.

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