Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 16
By Farhad Daneshvar - Trend:
Ahead of the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, aka nuclear deal), Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has posted a tweet calling on the world to join efforts to fight against extremism.
Earlier, Zarif said that by implementation of the JCPOA, the sanctions on the country will be lifted on Jan. 16.
Zarif left Tehran for Vienna early morning Jan. 16 to meet his US counterpart John Kerry and the EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to discuss the implementation of the JCPOA.
Iran expects the US and EU to remove nuclear sanctions following the implementation of the JCPOA over the weekend once the international nuclear watchdog body confirms that Tehran has curbed its nuclear activity.
Meanwhile, over the past years, the Middle East, a home to major Muslim states, has been suffering from terrorism. Amid the backdrop of all of this, Iran's relations with Saudi Arabia, as well as its allies have severely deteriorated recently after the kingdom's execution of a prominent Shia cleric, Nimr al-Nimr, on Jan. 2.
Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Djibouti, Bahrain and the UAE took diplomatic actions against Tehran after angry Iranians stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad, protesting against al-Nimr's execution.
Right after the attack on the Saudi diplomatic missions, Riyadh and its mentioned allies broke off or downgraded relations with Iran.