Iranian Foreign Minister Urges Europe to Abide by Nuclear Deal

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has warned European leaders against playing impersonator and avoid attempts to mimic the U.S. government's hardline stance against the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA, or simply the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Describing the agreement as being a “rare triumph of diplomacy,” he noted in a New York Times op-ed that Iran's “main concern now is cautioning European countries against wavering on issues beyond the scope of the nuclear agreement and following lockstep behind the White House.”

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Undermining the Iran nuclear deal, Javad Zarif wrote, “would be a mistake.” He went on to state that “Europe should not pander to Washington's determination to shift focus to yet another unnecessary crisis – whether it be Iran's defensive missile program or our influence in the Middle East.”

In October, the top diplomat said that Iran's defense missile system was absolutely necessary bearing in mind that the United States had flooded the region with “hundreds of billions of dollars of lethal American weapons” essentially turning it into a “gunpowder storage house.”

Nevertheless, French President Emmanuel Macron took sides with his U.S. counterpart last month, calling for the need to counter Iran's “destabilizing” activities in the Middle East. So did his Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who, despite the colonial past, and present, of both western nations, charged Iran with harbouring “hegemonic intentions.”

Jazad Zarif rebuked his colleague, stating that “no Iranian administration will leave our people defenseless. The international community – and Europe in particular – should realize this.”

While Trump has decertified Tehran's compliance with the nuclear deal and said he's ready to work with the U.S. Congress to address what he deems as the country's growing threat, the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, has repeatedly verified Iran's compliance. For his part, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged his U.S. counterpart to brush up on world history and geography in order to improve his understanding of international obligations and global ethics, etiquette and conventions.