Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s Foreign Minister, has arrived in Oslo, the capital of Norway, for a visit.
According to Iranian news agencies, Mr. Zarif said he plans to meet and hold talks with John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, on the sidelines of the “Oslo Forum” regarding “pursuing American commitments” in the implementation process of the nuclear agreement between Iran and Western governments (JCPOA).
Some officials of the Islamic Republic, particularly opponents of the nuclear agreement, have leveled criticisms against the JCPOA in recent months and various instances, saying that several months after the implementation of this program, there has been no fundamental change in Iran’s economic and financial conditions and relations.
Although Iranian government officials have defended the JCPOA, they have also said that the United States is “obstructing” the implementation of its commitments. In this regard, the Iranian Foreign Ministry, in its first report on the implementation of the JCPOA agreement to the ninth parliament, had written that “excuse-making, obstruction, and procrastination by the American side, particularly the U.S. Treasury Department” have created a fundamental problem in the path of JCPOA implementation.
Iran’s Foreign Minister also stated yesterday (Sunday, June 12/June 23) in his ministry’s report on the JCPOA to Iran’s new parliament (the tenth parliament) that the nuclear agreement between Iran and Western governments, known as the JCPOA, does not mean “the end of their hostility and enmity (of Western countries against Iran).”
He added: “This agreement does not mean that they have abandoned their obstructions or that today they have stepped away from cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran and want to engage with us through this path of dialogue.”
However, Mr. Zarif, at the same time, defended the signing of the JCPOA and stressed that by signing the comprehensive nuclear agreement, Iran was able to “remove the obstacles that had been imposed on the people under the name of the nuclear program.”
The Iranian Foreign Ministry is required to submit a report to the country’s parliament every three months regarding the implementation process of the JCPOA.
According to reports, Mr. Zarif is also scheduled to meet with his Norwegian counterpart as well as Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief.
It is expected that Iran’s Foreign Minister will then travel to Germany as a continuation of his European visit.
Abbas Araghchi, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, deputy foreign ministers and senior Iranian nuclear negotiators, as well as Hossein Jaberi Ansari, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, will accompany Mr. Zarif on this trip.
The forum known as the “Oslo Forum” regularly holds meetings in the field of peace studies and initiatives and dialogue in this regard.
