China Reiterates Emphasis on Preserving Nuclear Agreement with Iran

On Wednesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry emphasized that all parties should continue to respect the nuclear agreement with Iran, as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly stated that Iran has adhered to its commitments. According to Reuters, Hua Chunying, the spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, stated at a press conference that the country is aware of reports regarding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's comments about what he described as Iran's secret plans to produce nuclear weapons and the reactions to his statements. Ms. Hua added that the IAEA is the only international body that has the right to oversee the implementation of the nuclear agreement with Iran and to make judgments about it, and China knows that this agency has repeatedly stated that the Iranian government has complied with its commitments. The spokesperson further stated that all parties must respect this agreement. On Monday evening, Prime Minister Netanyahu presented documents from the secret archives of Iran's nuclear program to reporters, which are said to have been stolen by Israeli intelligence from the Islamic Republic and indicate that Tehran was seeking to build nuclear weapons before the JCPOA. On Tuesday, Mr. Netanyahu stated that his country does not seek war with Iran and added that U.S. President Donald Trump supports Israel's recent actions to revoke the nuclear agreement with Iran due to the revelation of evidence regarding Iran's past activities to produce nuclear weapons. China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has been one of the architects of this agreement and has repeatedly emphasized that all signatories of the nuclear agreement with Iran must respect it. In this context, France stated that the information provided by Israel demonstrates the necessity of preserving the JCPOA, while the White House commented that the problem is that the nuclear agreement was based on completely false claims by Iran. Macron called for broader negotiations with Tehran.