Baku, Azerbaijan, July 12
By Khalid Kazimov – Trend:
A senior Iranian official has briefed the public about the gains of the nuclear deal inked last year by the Islamic Republic and the world’s major powers.
On the eve of the first anniversary of sealing the landmark deal, Abbas Araqchi, Iranian deputy foreign minister, has hailed Iran's right to use nuclear energy as the most considerable achievement of the historic deal.
Araqchi made the remarks during a televised interview aired by the state broadcaster IRIB July 12.
Elaborating on the achievements of the deal, the high-ranking official said as a result of the nuclear deal the international community recognizes Iran’s right to supply its heavy water to the global markets.
Reacting to recent remarks by Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon, who suggested that Iran's missile tests were not in the spirit of the nuclear deal, Araqchi said the Islamic Republic will “severely confront” any measure taken to hamper the country's missile activities.
The deputy foreign minister criticized Ban Ki-Moon’s remarks on ballistic missile launches and said Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also harshly responded to the UN chief’s remarks.
Abbas Araqchi, who also heads a task force to oversee the implementation of the nuclear deal, added that the representatives of the Western side and Iran will have a meeting on July 20 in Vienna to review the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Iran and world powers reached the milestone nuclear agreement (aka JCPOA) on July 14, 2015. The agreement was later implemented on Jan. 16 after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verified that Iran’s nuclear program was peaceful.