Zarif wraps up his stay in NY, sums up meetings

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif during the last hours of his stay in New York among reporters on Monday expressed hope that he had performed his responsibility of conveying the Islamic Republic’s positions and opinions in the international communities in the best possible way.

Zarif who arrived in New York to attend the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) said during his stay he had held several meetings with leaders and political representatives of various countries from Latin America to Europe and countries in the Middle East, as well as the American policy makers both in the field of public opinion and research and study forums.  

The Iranian top diplomat summed up the main topics of these meetings in three areas, adding the coinciding of the UNGA session with the heart-rending incident in Mina which claimed the lives of over 4,000 Hajj pilgrims, including 465 Iranians, caused a great portion of his talks with the world’s leaders to revolve around this tragic event.

Zarif added that another topic discussed during the meetings was the precise and step-by-step implementation of the JCPOA, making sure that the Western sides would be sufficiently ready to perform their duties once the agreement was legally put into effect.  

The Iranian foreign minister noted that he had also discussed with his counterparts the Middles East crises especially in Yemen and Syria.

While expressing his lament over the actions and decisions of some neighboring countries which had shown they are not after a political solution to settle these conflicts in the region, Zarif added these countries attempt to impose their political intentions and regional goals on Yemeni people in a futile hope to reach victory by waging wars on these people.

In my meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry, Zarif added, we talked about the possible domestic issues in the US in relation to the implementation of the JCPOA both on at the level of states and the central government.  

Zarif and Kerry met in New York on Friday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting, discussing the Iran nuclear deal as well as the crisis in Syria.

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