Zarif Describes Trump's Demands on JCPOA as 'Unacceptable to the Iranian People'

The Iranian Foreign Minister, who is visiting Moscow, discussed the situation surrounding the JCPOA with his Russian counterpart and described the demands of the U.S. President regarding the nuclear agreement as 'unacceptable to the Iranian people.' Mohammad Javad Zarif stated on Saturday, April 27, in Moscow, at the end of a trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Iran, Russia, and Turkey regarding the future of Syria, that the U.S. President's demands concerning the JCPOA 'violate international obligations of Washington.' Earlier, Zarif had a bilateral meeting with Sergey Lavrov, his Russian counterpart, discussing the future of the nuclear agreement. According to Reuters, Mr. Zarif, without mentioning the U.S., said: 'Given the inappropriate actions and predictions of some members of the JCPOA, our discussions and consultations are very useful and significant.' Donald Trump, the U.S. President, has called the nuclear deal with Iran 'the worst deal ever' and stated that if the 'catastrophic flaws' of the JCPOA are not corrected by May 12, he will not extend the suspension of sanctions on Iran under this agreement. Several European countries, including France and Germany, whose leaders have traveled to Washington in recent days, have called for actions to curb Iran's missile activities and 'destabilizing behavior in the region' while maintaining the JCPOA. However, officials of the Islamic Republic have recently emphasized that the JCPOA is non-negotiable and rejected any new negotiations related to this agreement. Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, also stated on Saturday during his meeting with his Iranian counterpart that 'the current situation regarding the JCPOA is extremely troubling for us, and we intend to examine it thoroughly.' The meeting between Mohammad Javad Zarif and Sergey Lavrov took place shortly before the trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Iran, Russia, and Turkey regarding the future of Syria. In this trilateral meeting, which was held without the presence of representatives from the Syrian government and Bashar al-Assad's opponents, the foreign ministers of the three countries emphasized a 'political solution' to end the Syrian crisis. Over the seven years of the Syrian war, Iran and Russia have been the main allies of Bashar al-Assad's government, while Turkey has supported some of the opposition groups against Assad.