Iran, ASEAN to sign treaty: Singapore’s envoy

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif will sign the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation with Asean, Bloomberg quoted Ong Keng Yong, Singapore’s non-resident ambassador in Tehran, as saying.

The treaty will be signed at a meeting of foreign ministers of ASEAN late in July that will be attended by US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and North Korean officials, the Singaporean diplomat said.

“The Asean countries welcome anyone who wants to sign onto the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation,’ said the Singaporean diplomat.

The 10-member ASEAN bloc with a 630-million population has a combined gross domestic product of around $2.4 trillion.

The treaty will be signed amid the US measures against Iran. Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (the US, France, Britain, China, and Russia) plus Germany signed the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in 2015. Iran accepted to curb its nuclear program in exchange for economic sanctions relief.

Despite several reports of the international nuclear watchdog confirming Iran’s commitment to JCPOA, US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal on May 8, calling it the worst deal ever. Washington has also re-imposed the economic sanctions the first set of which will take effect on August 6.

The 13th ASEAN Summit in November is expected to host the heads of states of Australia, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea and the U.S.

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, this year’s Asean host, said last month that Trump had accepted his invitation to the gathering, according to Bloomberg.