Publish Date: 29 December 2020 - 12:12

TEHRAN, Dec. 29 (MNA) – Ireland will work to preserve and promote the Iran nuclear deal as part of its membership of the United Nations Security Council, one of Ireland’s top diplomats has said.

Ireland will take up its position on the UN Security Council from January 1 alongside Norway, after beating Canada to secure a place on the influential body. It will sit on the council for two years, The Times reported.

Geraldine Byrne Nason, Ireland’s permanent representative to the UN, told the Oireachtas foreign affairs committee this month that Ireland would “of course do everything it can” at the Security Council to preserve the Iranian nuclear deal.

On Tuesday, May 8, 2018, US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the international agreement and announced the return of nuclear sanctions, in violation of Washington's commitments under the JCPOA. But despite using sanctions and other pressure, Trump has been unable to lure Iran into negotiating a new deal.

Trump's move has drawn widespread domestic and international condemnation.

ZZ/PR