Trump's Presidency Will Not Affect Nuclear Deal - Iranian FM

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 (Bernama) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is confident that the Iran nuclear deal which took place during United States (US) President Barack Obama's administration, will not be affected when Donald Trump takes over the US presidency Friday. He said the agreement was an international agreement with several countries and was not just a bilateral agreement between the US and Iran. "I am not worried about it because we have options...and it is an international agreement, it is not bilateral between Iran and the US," he explained. He said this to reporters who swarmed him as soon as he emerged from the meeting room where the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Foreign Ministers held their Extraordinary Session on the Rohingya Plight in Myanmar, here Thursday. Mohammad Javad said the nuclear deal between Iran and the 5+1 countries (US, United Kingdom, France, China and Russia, plus Germany) took place under Obama's tenure as president. The deal, finalised in July 2015 and known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was an apparent sign of Iran's power of diplomacy, besides indicating the role and importance of dialogue and negotiation to overcome problems and crises, according to reports. Reports also stated that with the historic deal, the P5+1 group and Iran had achieved a verifiable, comprehensive agreement to limit Iran's sensitive nuclear activities and was a breakthrough for nuclear non-proliferation and international security. The agreement implemented on Jan 16, 2016, established a strong and effective formula for blocking all pathways by which Iran could acquire material for nuclear weapons and promptly detecting and deterring possible efforts by Iran to covertly pursue nuclear weapons in the future. -- BERNAMA