China says willing to work with all parties to continue safeguarding Iran nuclear deal

SINGAPORE -- Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here on Friday that China is willing to work with all parties to continue safeguarding the Iran nuclear deal.

Wang made the remarks while meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers' meeting and related meetings.

Whether the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal, fully known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), can be continued or not has aroused the attention of the international community, Wang said.

It has brought a new risk to and posed a new challenge for the situation in the Middle East, he said.

"China always holds the view that JCPOA is a multilateral deal which is verified and approved by the Untied Nations Security Council and accords the common interests of all parties and the international community, which must be respected and safeguarded so as to maintain the authority of the United Nations, the effectiveness of multilateral deals and the credibility of the international rules."

For this end, China is willing to enhance communication and cooperation with all parties including Iran and do best to continue safeguarding the deal in a bid to maintain peace and stability in the region and the world at large.

For his part, Zarif said Iran and China are strategic partners and China has played an important role in the hammering out and implementation of JCPOA.

Iran is willing to continue safeguarding and implementing the deal and will continue to work with the parties concerned including China and European countries, the Iranian foreign minister said.

The United States has unilaterally announced its pullout from the deal and also threatened to restart unilateral sanctions on Iran, which violates the related resolutions of the United Nations and is opposed by all parties, Zarif noted.

The Iranian foreign minister hoped that the United States would listen to the voices of the international community and reverse its wrongdoings, Zarif added.