Iran Press/Iran news: Attending a joint press conference with his Chinese counterpart 'Ma Zhaoxu' after a consultative meeting in Beijing on Sunday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi told reporters that during their meeting, they have discussed issues regarding the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Araqchi said that a phased reduction in Iran’s commitments to the JCPOA does not mean a withdrawal from the nuclear deal; Instead, it was aimed at saving the agreement.
The Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister also said that Iran welcomes China’s political and diplomatic efforts to find solutions to save the JCPOA, adding: “We believe that saving the JCPOA would be per se a great multilateral diplomatic success.”
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He further described China as a strategic partner of Iran, saying that Tehran and Beijing will continue their strategic cooperation on different regional and international issues, including matters relating to the JCPOA.
The Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister, for his part, stressed that Beijing will do its best to save the nuclear pact.
He added that the US withdrawal from the JCPOA and its policy of maximum pressure on Iran is the primary cause of the current crisis surrounding Iran’s nuclear program.
Ma also said that his country is pursuing plans to expand strategic and long-term relations with Iran.
Since May, Iran has been scaling down its commitments in retaliation for Washington’s 2018 withdrawal from the deal and the failure of three European signatories – the UK, France, and Germany – to protect bilateral trade against American sanctions.
In the first three stages of its measured response, Iran enriched uranium beyond the 300kg limit set by the deal and ramped up enrichment to levels beyond the 3.67-percent cap. It also expanded nuclear research to areas banned in the agreement.
The fourth step was the injection of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) gas into centrifuges at the Fordo underground enrichment facility.
Tehran says its reciprocal measures do not violate the JCPOA and are based on Articles 26 and 36 of the agreement itself, which detail mechanisms to deal with non-compliance.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi arrived in Beijing on Saturday morning for political consultations with Chinese officials over the Iran nuclear deal.205/214
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