Iranian Foreign Minister May Meet P5+1 at UN General Assembly - Nuclear Chief

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif might set up a meeting with his counterparts from the P5+1 group, on the sidelines of the upcoming UN General Assembly session, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi said Sunday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The 72nd Regular Session of the UN General Assembly will kick off in New York on September 12.

"I think that Zarif can perhaps take steps to set up a meeting between Iran and P5+1 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly," Salehi said as quoted by IRNA news outlet.

Salehi added hat his assumption was based on the letter that the Iranian foreign minister had sent to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, where Zarif described the actions the Iranian Foreign Ministry was taking to oppose "the bullying measures of the United States" regarding the implementation of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal.

Iran's nuclear agency chief also expressed his confidence that the country's foreign ministry will take all the possible measures to ensure implementation of the JCPOA.

On July 14, 2015, the P5+1 group (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany) signed the JCPOA with Iran on the latter's nuclear program. The accord stipulated a gradual lifting of anti-Iran sanctions in exchange for Tehran's assurances that its nuclear program would remain peaceful in nature.

In recent weeks, US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to refuse from re-certifying Iran’s compliance with the JCPOA, thus leaving the deal, with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani pledging Tehran's readiness to withdraw from the deal within hours if Washington continues the hostile rhetoric.