UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres hopes that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear program will remain in effect after Donald Trump announced a new, tougher policy towards Tehran.
«The Secretary General has repeatedly stated that the signing of the JCPOA was a major step towards consolidating nuclear nonproliferation and achieving global peace and security. He very much hopes that the agreement will continue,» the Secretary General said in a statement released on Friday by his spokesman Stéphane Dujarrik.
Tehran and the «six» world powers (Russia, Great Britain, China, the United States, Germany and France) reached an agreement in 2015 to resolve the problem of the Iranian atom and adopted a Joint Comprehensive Action Plan. It provides for the lifting of sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic in connection with its nuclear program by the UN Security Council, the United States and the European Union.
In return, Tehran pledged to limit its nuclear activities, placing it under international control. The deal entered the implementation stage in January 2016.
On Friday, Trump outlined Washington’s new, tougher strategy toward Tehran. According to it, the United States will oppose the «destabilizing influence» of Iran, and also intend to call on the international community to unite to put pressure on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, the elite units of the Iranian Armed Forces). In addition, the American president refused to confirm Tehran’s implementation of the nuclear agreement and promised to seek amendments to the JCPOA.
