Senior Diplomat: US Isolated by Iran-4+1 Meeting in NY

He made the remarks posting an account of the Thursday joint meeting of the representatives of Iran and 4+1 (the UK, Germany, France, Russia and China) on his Instagram account. Araqchi is a member of the entourage accompanying President Rouhani’s high-ranking delegation to New York.

“This meeting, which was held prior to the US effort to instrumentally abusing the (UN) Security Council to stage an anti-Iran show, explicitly demonstrated the support of Europe, Russia and China for Iran and the isolation of the US,” reiterated Araqchi.

The Iranian diplomat recounted that at the end of the joint meeting of the foreign ministers of the 4+1 and Iran, a joint statement was issued. He added that the statement contained noteworthy points which were worth to be considered.

“In this statement, the countries loyal to the JCPOA underlined the full and effective implementation of the agreement, especially in areas of removing sanctions,” read the message posted by Araqchi adding that the statement stipulates the point that Iran’s economic interests guaranteed in the JCPOA was the vital and key part of the accord.

“The foreign ministers have voiced their deep disappointment with the US unilateral pullout from the JCPOA,” he said in his post, adding that “in an open confrontation with the US unilateral sanctions” the participants re-voiced commitment to their undertakings stipulated in the joint statement issued after the former ministerial meeting in Vienna on July 5.

There in the previous statement, the foreign ministers of the remaining parties of the 2015 nuclear agreement asserted that they will keep and boost extensive economic relations with Iran with preserving effective financial channels intended to have transactions with Iran and keep purchasing Iran’s oil and gas condensates, oil and petrochemical products et cetera.

The Iranian senior diplomat continued that the statement re-affirmed the 4+1 countries’ commitment to undertake speedy measures to make the “special mechanism” practical and vowed the continuation of effective interaction with regional and international partners for this cause. “They voiced their strong will to support the measures for the ‘special mechanism’.”

According to Araqchi, the joint statement of the foreign ministers of Iran and 4+1 invites other countries of the world to follow the same approach keeping and bolstering bilateral economic relations with Iran. “It calls upon all countries to dispatch all their capacities, including cooperation with third party countries to effectively normalize commercial and trade relations with Iran,” recounted the Iranian deputy foreign minister.

He described this call as the explicit articulation of the will of the JCPOA member states which are openly opposing US will to sabotage the accord and re-impose sanctions.

On Monday, New York hosted the second ministerial meeting on Iran after the US withdrawal from the deal. EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini said after meeting with the JCPOA member-states’ representatives that the participants of the Iran nuclear deal believe that Tehran is fully committed to the agreement and expressed readiness to continue cooperation with the country in economic, scientific and technical areas.

US President Donald Trump announced on May 8 that Washington would no longer remain part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and promised to re-impose the highest level of economic sanctions against Iran.

The sanctions reinstated on Iran on May 8 included boycott of Iran’s crude supplies and bans on transfer of its crude revenues. There is a 180 days interval before these sanctions come into effect. Other US secondary sanctions were reinstated last month.

After Trump’s declaration, the Iranian government issued a statement, calling the US withdrawal as “unlawful”. The statement underlined Iran’s prerequisites for continuing the deal with the five world powers. These conditions that were reiterated later by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei later mainly included Iran’s guaranteed crude sales and transfer of its revenues back home.

Two months later, the other five powers party to the nuclear deal have failed to satisfy Iran. President Hassan Rouhani voiced his disappointment over a recent package of incentives proposed by the European Union countries to Tehran, and said that the Islamic Republic expected a much better, clearer and explicit stance by the EU.

“Unfortunately, the EU’s package of proposals lacked an operational solution and a specific method for cooperation, and featured just a set of general commitments like the previous statements by the European Union,” President Rouhani said in a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on July 5.

President Rouhani pointed to US’ unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal, and said, “After the US withdrawal from the JCPOA, Iran has been dealing with economic issues and problems in banking relations and oil, and foreign companies that have invested in Iran are skeptical about continuing their business.”

The Iranian president, however, said that the package proposed by the three European countries (the UK, Germany, and France) on how they are going to live up to their commitments and cooperation under the JCPOA was “disappointing”.

President Rouhani reiterated that the JCPOA was a mutual commitment, and said, “Iran had expected a clear plan from the three European countries after the two months’ time they have been given to come up with solid guarantees to ensure Iran’s economic interests would continue to be met despite US pullout and reinstatement of sanctions.”

The Iranian president, however, said that Tehran would continue cooperation with Europe if the outcome of the July 6 Vienna talks would be promising.

“If the process of the European foreign ministers’ meeting in Vienna, which is aimed at encouraging Iran to cooperate, is promising, we will continue our cooperation with Europe,” Rouhani added.

But the Vienna talks July 6 among foreign ministers from Iran and the five world powers (Russia, China, Germany, France and Britain) failed to satisfy Iran with senior officials in Tehran complaining that the Europeans had offered nothing new to ensure Iran’s continued merits under the deal.

On July 8, the Iranian parliament’s research center has readied a comprehensive plan that includes a detailed list of policies and moves to fight off sanctions as Washington sped up attempts to rally international support for intensified pressures on Tehran.

The comprehensive “active anti-sanctions plan” that has been compiled at the parliament research center after long studies and consultations with experts from Iranian research and academic centers, traders and entrepreneurs is now under study by senior Judiciary, Parliament and Government officials for a final editing.

The program that mainly aims to make the country “unsanctionable” has been developed in contrast to the US sanctions program and has reportedly been edited seven times so far, several MPs told FNA.

Information obtained by FNA reveals the program offers a package that also involves social and cultural measures to reinvigorate the country’s economy and infrastructure against the US sanctions that come into effect from 90 to 180 days after their re-imposition and seek to wear off Iran’s economy step-by-step.

The plan also entails specific time-based nuclear, security and political leverages that would be enforced in reprisal for enemy threats, while it also envisages transient waivers that could be extended, halted or annulled based on relevant decisions by authorities.

The plan to make Iran sanction-proof includes detailed measures in two 90-120 days and 180-210 days periods in various areas of monetary, banking and currency sector, liquidity management and deterring middlemen disruption and negative interference, optimized forex reserves management, facilitated money transfer in the international market, reduction of intermediary currency role, strategic commodities, budget resources and use, energy, business, trade, structures, culture, society, media and legal affairs.

Meantime, several other plans have also been compiled by university and research centers for improving economy through reinvigoration of national potentials to make the country sanctions-proof.