Support from Europe to preserve the 2015 nuclear deal in the face of US pressure has been better than expected and Iran will be "a little more patient" to see what the practical results will be, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said.
"The Europeans probably made better commitments than anybody expected," he said in an interview with BBC in New York, which was published on Wednesday.
His comments came days after the European Union announced during the UN General Assembly that it would set up a special financial mechanism to allow companies to get around the sanctions reinstated by US President Donald Trump who abandoned the nuclear agreement earlier this year to fulfill his vested political agenda.
Zarif said despite the US president's calls on other nations to join efforts aimed at isolating Iran, governments such as those of British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron have reaffirmed their commitment to ensure that Tehran will enjoy the economic benefits of the accord, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The chief diplomat said Europe had been asked to translate its political commitments into mechanisms, expressing optimism that the proposed action plan will be put in place.
EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, has said the Special Purpose Vehicle to facilitate trade with Iran could be in place "before November", when the second round of sanctions against Tehran are set to take effect.
The first round of sanctions, which included rules cutting off Iran and any businesses that trade with the country from the US financial system, went into effect in August. A ban on Iranian oil purchases will start in November.
The SPV, slammed by US officials, would create a barter system to exchange Iranian oil for European goods without money changing hands and avoiding banking exchanges.
>Next Step
"Now the next test, which is the most difficult and important test, is to see whether those mechanisms work," Zarif said, adding that Iran will wait to see the final outcome.
"We are going to be a little bit more patient. It does not mean that our patience will never run out, but we are going to be a little bit more patient."
The foreign minister conceded that avoiding dollar transactions is going to be hard because of the dominant role of the US dollar in international trade and finance, but the choice facing the international community is "very clear".
"They should either resist the United States' excessive demands or allow it to rule over the world based on a set of diktats that change every other day," the foreign minister said, taking a jab at Trump's tendency to change his mind over key policy issues.
Asked about the possibility of direct talks between Trump and President Hassan Rouhani as proposed by the US leader, Zarif said, "Nothing is impossible."
However, the outcome of such a summit would only be a photo opportunity and a two-page document if held in Trump's style, he added, in reference to Trump's agreement with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at their June summit on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
"We have a 150-page document, which is the [nuclear] deal," he said, recalling that it was negotiated "word by word" not only by Iran and the US but also by five other major powers, namely Russia, Britain, France, Germany and China.
"Having been involved in this process for a very long time, I can assure President Trump that the US will not get a better deal," he said.
>International Relations
Zarif was also asked about the fact that Trump took his enthusiasm for his detente with the North Korean leader to new heights on Saturday, declaring at a rally with supporters that "we fell in love" after exchanging letters.
"International relations is not about falling in love. International relations is about respecting obligations," Zarif said, criticizing the US exit from JCPOA.
"What happened when President Trump came to office was not a revolution. It was simply a change of administration," he said, suggesting that it should not have been used as an excuse by Trump to abandon an international agreement signed under his predecessor, Barack Obama.
"The nuclear deal is not a personal deal between myself and [former secretary of state] John Kerry or President Obama and President Rouhani. It's an international agreement between seven countries and the European Union, which is included in a Security Council resolution," he said, referring to Resolution 2231, which underpins the nuclear pact.
>Resisting Pressure
In separate remarks during a session on multilateralism and JCPOA at the UN on Tuesday evening, Zarif said the Iranian nation has never given in to threats and will continue to withstand external pressures.
He said it is not sensible to negotiate a new deal with the United States, IRNA reported.
"Why should we start things all over again? And even if we decide to do so, the question is whether there is any guarantee that the future [US] president will honor it or whether the current president will abide by it," he said.
Zarif noted that the EU is making efforts to salvage the deal because it is aware that its collapse will mark the demise of international diplomacy and multilateralism, which will negatively affect other countries in the future.
