The European Union and China say they will do their utmost to keep afloat an international agreement on Iran’s nuclear program despite the US abandoning the pact.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Friday that “we will be unswerving in upholding it,” AP reported.
Speaking alongside EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, he said the agreement has been endorsed by the UN and that “every party has the duty to implement it.”
Mogherini, who helps oversee the implementation of the 2015 nuclear deal, praised China and said Beijing, the EU and other partners are working “in full coordination” to save the pact.
Mogherini said that the European Union and China are both global players. “We have a joint responsibility to work together to preserve, or rather to build, a cooperative rules-based global order in many different fields.”
The 2015 agreement, official known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, between Iran and six world powers lifted international sanctions on Tehran. In return, Iran agreed to restrictions on its nuclear activities
US President Donald Trump abandoned the agreement on May 8, arguing that he wanted a bigger and broader deal that not only limited Iran’s nuclear work but also reined in its regional activities in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon and that curbed its ballistic missile program.
The remaining parties are trying to keep the deal alive.
China’s Role Essential
Mogherini described the role of china and Europe in keeping the historic agreement as “essential”, adding that both side are on the same page we it comes to preserving the deal.
“The full continued implementation of the nuclear deal with Iran, that has been the result of twelve long years of diplomatic work, is a key issue on which cooperation between China and the European Union is essential,” she added. “China's has been essential and China's role continues to be essential in these weeks, months and years to come, in continuing the full implementation of the agreement. We fully share our commitment to preserve the agreement and to work for its continuation,” the top European diplomat said.
EU, Japan Talks on JCPOA
In the same vein, Mogherini met with Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, Taro Kono, on Thursday where the both sides said the deal was “crucial for the security of the region and beyond.”
During the meeting, Mogherini stressed that “the EU will remain committed to the continued full and effective implementation of the nuclear deal, as long as Iran continues to implement its commitments under the deal, as has been confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency in 11 consecutive reports.”
She also informed the Japanese foreign minister of the measures being taken by the European Union to ensure continued economic relations with Iran after the United States' decision to re-instate nuclear related sanctions following their withdrawal from the JCPOA, according to a statement by the official website of the European Union.
