Iran’s Zarif says Trump's new strategies will further isolate US

Iran’s Zarif says Trump's new strategies will further isolate US

The Iranian foreign minister says the new US strategies against Tehran will lead to Washington's further isolation.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the new strategies declared by the US secretary of state will lead to Washington's greater isolation among the international community.

"In my opinion, the new US strategies against Iran, which were announced by the country's secretary of state, will bring down more isolation on the US," Zarif said in a meeting with a number of Iranian lawmakers on Sunday.

US President Donald Trump announced on May 8 that Washington was walking away from the nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was reached between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the US, Britain, France, Russia and China - plus Germany.

Trump also said he would reinstate US nuclear sanctions on Iran and impose "the highest level" of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.

Elsewhere in his Sunday remarks, the Iranian foreign minister said Pompeo's conditions "were not based on prudence."

Zarif added that there has been an international consensus in support of the negotiations about Iran's nuclear program since the beginning of the talks, noting that only three Arab countries in the Persian Gulf and the Israeli regime currently oppose the JCPOA despite the US withdrawal.

"I believe that there is still an international consensus in support of it [the JCPOA] and that Trump has failed to change the conditions," he pointed out.

Since the US president pulled Washington out of the historic nuclear deal, European countries have been scrambling to ensure that Iran gets enough economic benefits to persuade it to stay in the deal.

After the US withdrawal, five signatories to the JCPOA and Iran met in Vienna on May 25 at Iran's request and emphasized the importance of working together to explore ways to save the accord.

Speaking after the meeting, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that there was greater confidence about the survival of the nuclear deal.



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