TEHRAN – Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has said that the nuclear deal has bolstered Islamic Republic’s confidence in defying its enemies and the hegemonic powers, ISNA reported on Friday.

In remarks made during his visit to Khorasan Razavi Province, Araqchi hailed the nuclear agreement – officially known as the JCPOA or BARJAM – and called for unity in the face of threats posed against the country.

BARJAM is an international agreement on the nuclear program of Iran reached in Vienna on 14 July 2015 between Iran and five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council—China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States—plus Germany. Under the accord, Iran received sanctions relief in exchange for limiting some aspects of its nuclear program.

“Due to the might of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the resistance of the [Iranian] nation, world powers were drawn to the negotiating table and, as a result, BARJAM was achieved,” Araqchi said.

He further said that since the agreement, the world sees Iran in a much more positive light. “This is while Iran was regarded as a ‘threat’ for the region and the world,” he stressed.

“Before BARJAM, the whole world was united against Iran and was on the side of America,” he said, “but following this international agreement, all of the countries in the world have been on the side of Iran and against America.”

This is while U.S. President Donald Trump has numerously dismissed the Iran nuclear deal as “disastrous” and promised to do something about it. His remarks, however, provoked a backlash from other countries involved, which urged the new U.S. president to stick to the international accord.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Araqchi thanked the proponents of the deal as well as its opponents – who are called Delvapasan (the concerned) in Iran. “They [the opponents of the deal] made us aware of the accord’s shortcomings,” he said.

“However, some factions have sacrificed national interests for partisan interests,” he said, while urging them to be more nationalist.

MH/PA