News / Politics

Anti-Iran hostilities to continue despite nuclear deal: Zarif

Sunday, 12 June 2016 9:50 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 12 June 2016 11:08 AM ]

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif attends a parliament session in Tehran, on June 12, 2016. (Photo by IRNA)

Iran’s foreign minister says the nuclear deal reached last year with the P5+1 group of world powers does not guarantee an end to all hostilities against the Islamic Republic.

Mohammad Javad Zarif made the remarks on Sunday as he attended a parliament session in Tehran to brief lawmakers on the results of the nuclear deal reached in July last year.

“This agreement does not mean that the enmities of the other side have come to an end because they always view the Islamic Republic of Iran as an obstacle in their way,” said Zarif.

"This also doesn't mean the other side has abandoned its sabotage," the foreign minister added.

Since the nuclear agreement, the US and its allies have directed their focus on Iran's missile program, with Iranian officials saying the West was trying to sabotage it.

Zarif stressed that Iran’s missile program was not on the agenda of the nuclear negotiations.

He said Iran's adversaries have always regarded the Islamic Revolution as an impediment to their goals and adopted a policy of pressuring the country.

Through the nuclear agreement, "we managed to take away the excuses and remove the obstacles in the way of the nation but this doesn’t mean an end to excuses and attempts to exert pressure" on Iran, he added.

Iranian lawmakers listen to a speech by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (unseen) during a parliament session on June 12, 2016. (Photo by Tasnim)

Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with the US, France, Britain, China, Russia and Germany on July 14 last year after years of intensive talks.

The agreement requires all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran by the EU, the UN and the US to be lifted but Iranian officials have complained of obstructions by the Western side in this regard.

Zarif said, "Since the conclusion of nuclear negotiations, we have been pursuing the rights of the Iranian nation."

The minister said Iran’s oil sales currently stand at more than 2 million barrels per day, compared to between 850,000 and 900,000 barrels recorded three years ago.

Zarif said some USD 3.6 billion of foreign investment has also been made in the country since the JCPOA went into force.

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