TEHRAN - Abbas Araqchi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, said on Sunday that it is “unacceptable” to set new conditions for implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the official name for the nuclear deal between Iran and great powers.

The remarks by Araqchi came after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in an interview with Foreign Affairs magazine published on Friday that Iran’s supports for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement and Yemen’s Houthis have made it “very difficult” to help Iran improve its banking system and business practices.

Araqchi called Kerry’s comments “wrong” and said such remarks are made with the aim of refusing to fulfill their commitments under the JCPOA.

Iran has always insisted that issues related to its national security, missile defense, and foreign policy are not negotiable and the nuclear agreement was reached by accepting these conditions by the other side, the deputy foreign minister said in a televised interview.

“John Kerry and the other European and American officials, who claim they are fulfilling their commitments based on the JCPOA, seem to have forgotten this fact that their commitments are not just restricted to the removal of sanctions,” he stated.

He added the 5+1 group (the U.S., Britain, France, China and Russia plus Germany) have agreed to avoid taking any action that impedes normalization of Iran’s banking relations with other countries.

“These countries should create an atmosphere that facilitates Iran’s access to financial and banking markets. If they do not take any step in this line, they have not taken step in line with meeting their obligations,” Araqchi asserted.

The July 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and the six major powers went into effect in January.

NA/PA