© AP/Matt Dunham
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Jeremy Hunt
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Jeremy Hunt will visit Iran on Monday for the first time since his appointment to discuss various issues, including the future of the 2015 nuclear deal with the Iranian government.
According to the UK Foreign Secretary's Office,
he will meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and stress that London will stick to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as long as Iran is committed to following the terms of the deal, CNBC reported. Hunt said in a statement ahead of the visit:
"We will stick to our side of the bargain as long as Iran does. But we also need to see an end to destabilising activity by Iran in the rest of the region if we are going to tackle the root causes of the challenges the region faces,"
Hunt also noted that he would be willing to
discuss the coming peace talks aimed at ending the conflict in Yemen. He will urge the Iranian government to "halt supplies and give its full backing to coming peace talks in Stockholm," the UK Foreign Office said, cited by
The Independent.
The UK Foreign Secretary also stated that
"the Iran nuclear deal remains a vital component of stability in the Middle East by eliminating the threat of a nuclearized Iran. It needs 100 percent compliance through to survive".
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump
was reportedly infuriated that the UK had decided not to exit the Iranian deal and didn't join the US in introducing sanctions on Iran's economy. He allegedly berated British Prime Minister Theresa May over the UK's stance when she telephoned to congratulate him on the Republicans' success in the midterm elections.
The US decided to withdraw from the JCPOA in May, reimposing sanctions on Iran in August and November. The other signatories - Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany - have repeatedly stressed that Iran is compliant with the agreement, as has the UN nuclear watchdog. The European Union is developing commercial mechanisms aimed at compensating firms that are affected by the American sanctions.
Comment: There goes the 'Russia bad because Crimea annexation' rationale for sanctioning and threatening war with Russia.
The US just gave Netanyahu his 'My Precious' moment.
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