Zarif: Arab Quartet Statement on Iran Nuclear Deal ‘Worthless’

Iran has dismissed as “completely worthless” a recent statement by the Arab Ministerial Quartet Committee condemning the Islamic Republic’s missile program and questioning its adherence to the 2015 nuclear deal.

The committee, made up of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain, issued a statement Wednesday after an Arab League meeting in Cairo, condemning Iran’s continued development of its ballistic missile program and expressing concerns over what it described as Tehran’s lack of seriousness in complying with the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

 “Iran must comply with implementation of Security Council resolution 2231 with regard to its missile program and the world community needs to carry out an effective mechanism to verify Iran’s implementation of the resolution, inspection and monitoring,” the statement reads, according to Sputnik.

Resolution 2231 was adopted by the UN Security Council in July 2015 to endorse the JCPOA nuclear deal between Iran and six other countries.

The Arab Ministerial Quartet Committee also called on world powers to reimpose sanctions on Iran if it violates the resolution and condemned what it called Iran’s meddling with Arab internal affairs, claiming that Tehran undermines stability in the region.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi dismissed the statement Thursday as “completely worthless, unacceptable and illogical,” stressing that the authors have no jurisdiction over the issue.

“The countries that bear the main responsibility for the invasion, destruction and a humanitarian crisis in Yemen as well as the spread of terrorism and extremism in the region should abandon their disgraceful political dance to please the Zionist regime,” Qassemi said, referring to Israel.

He added that the Quartet “should know that Iranophobia has become a failed policy.”

Iran and the P5+1 countries — Russia, China, France, Britain, the US and Germany — finalized the JCPOA, also called simply the Iran nuclear deal, in July 2015 and started implementing it in January 2016. The six countries together comprise the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.

H.M