TEHRAN — Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have discussed issues of mutual interest, including the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the United Nations Information Center reported on Thursday.

In the meeting, Guterres also congratulated the appointment of Abdollahian as Iran’s new foreign minister.

Earlier, it was announced that Abdollahian met with Guterres on Thursday on the sidelines of the 76th UN General Assembly to discuss cooperation with the United Nations and the situation in the region.

The UN chief went on to that he has always supported the JCPOA, commonly called the 2015 nuclear deal, and said the United Nations has principally criticized the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal.

Recalling that UN consultations and cooperation with Iran on regional issues such as the Yemen crisis have always been going on, the Secretary-General said that the United Nations welcomes broader cooperation with the Islamic Republic.

Guterres called Iran's position on Afghanistan principled and said that a comprehensive government should be formed in Afghanistan so that all groups in the government have a voice.

Earlier, the Iranian Foreign Minister also met with EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell in New York on Tuesday to discuss various issues, including the JCPOA and developments in Afghanistan.

During the meeting, Abdollahian emphasized that the administration of Ebrahim Raisi is “pragmatic” based on principles and therefore seeks a practical result in the nuclear negotiations.

As mentioned earlier Iran is seriously reviewing the result of the Vienna talks to revive the JCPOA negotiating, he said.

However, he said, the new Iranian administration “will resume negotiations".

Since April until June Iran and the remaining parties to the JCPOA (Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China) held six rounds of talks to with the aim of revitalizing the JCPOA. Though negotiators made considerable progresses, they failed to fully revive the agreement as the United States, which is taking part in the talks indirectly, raised new issues outside the JCPOA, including Iran’s missile program.
  
The Iranian Foreign Minister emphasized: "Our criterion is the actions of the other parties and not their comments. The new administration of Iran is reviewing the nuclear dossier. It will neither waste time nor will it accept the unconstructive behavior of the United States.”

However, the new chief diplomat added that the new administration in Iran will not wait for the “empty promises" of the United States.

Abdollahian went on to say that unfortunately, the behavior and policies of the Biden administration have been unconstructive in relation to Iran and the JCPOA. 

Although Biden has verbally criticized Trump's policies, he has in practice pursued the same policies toward Iran, the new Iranian foreign minister regretted.

For his part, Borrell said in his view a success of the JCPOA is in not just highly important for Iran and the negotiating partners but for the entire world.
 
“A failure of the JCPOA and negotiations will not benefit any side,” Borrell said, according to a translation of his remarks.

Borrel said the EU has openly criticized Trump’s “destructive” approach toward the JCPOA but a decision by the new Biden administration to restore the nuclear deal has opened a new chapter for protecting and reviving the agreement.

EU’s chief diplomat added all nuclear sides should work to reach a middle ground and this entails confidence-building measures by all sides.