TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said that the U.S. gets a “low mark” in implementing the nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

However, in an interview with the IRIB aired on Monday, Zarif said generally the JCPOA gets a “good mark” given the international atmosphere.

Iran and the 5+1 group - the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) finalized the text of the JCPOA in Vienna on 14 July, 2015. On July 20, 2015, the UN Security Council turned the JCPOA into international law by endorsing a resolution, setting the stage for the lifting of the Security Council sanctions against Iran. The deal went into effect on January 16, 2016.

The Iranian foreign minister also said that a “national consensus” is required to gain benefits from the nuclear deal.

He said that the JCPOA “maintained the people’s dignity, recognized their rights, canceled resolutions of the UN Security Council and prevented imposition of new sanctions against the country”.

The greatest achievement of the nuclear deal was that the Iranian people proved that nothing can be imposed on them through pressure, the chief diplomat noted.

On implementation of the JCPOA, he said that Iran is “serious” in meeting its obligations under the deal and preventing the other side from violating it.

Elsewhere, he said that the JCPOA is a “defendable document”.

“On the anniversary of reaching the JCPOA, we can tell the Iranian people that the agreement has made them proud at the international arena. The world knows the Iranian people as a nation that resist against pressure and simultaneously is ready to negotiate and meet its obligations and do not allow the other side to renege on its promises,” he stated.

NA/PA