Iran urges US to abide by nuclear deal

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday that the US must respect Iran nuclear deal as an international treaty, Tehran Times daily reported on Friday.

"We expect all the sides to abide by their commitments, but the US has remained committed to the agreement at the least level," Zarif said upon arrival in New York to participate in the meeting of the High-Level Political Forum 2017 in the UN headquarters, Xinhua reported.

"The US administration has not respected and supported the spirit of the deal by adopting wrong approaches and policies," he said, adding that the US government "has not let Iran gain benefits from the deal completely."

Iran has said Washington should be committed to its obligations under the nuclear agreement which endorses the removal of sanctions and barriers of banking transactions.

During his campaign, US President Donald Trump repeatedly criticized the Iran nuclear deal, calling it "the worst deal ever negotiated."

In July 2015, Iran and six world powers, Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, reached an agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue, which put it on the path of sanctions relief but with more strict limits on its nuclear program.

The deal set limits on Iran's nuclear activities as it would take Tehran at least one year to produce enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon, and allowed regular inspections of the facilities inside Iran.

In return, the United States and the European Union will suspend nuclear-related sanctions against Iran, including recalling all past UN Security Council sanction resolutions.

--IANS

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