Zarif: The U.S. Government is Responsible for Implementing the Nuclear Agreement

The Iranian Foreign Minister, who traveled to New York on Monday, May 7, states that from Tehran's perspective, regardless of internal disagreements in the U.S., that country's government is responsible for implementing the final agreement. According to a senior U.S. State Department official, the foreign ministers of the U.S. and Iran will meet in New York. Reuters quoted an unnamed senior American official saying this meeting will take place on the sidelines of the international NPT review conference, which Mohammad Javad Zarif is attending in the U.S. The French news agency also mentioned the upcoming meeting between Kerry and Zarif. IRNA quoted Zarif as suggesting the possibility of discussions with representatives of the P5+1 countries. If the foreign ministers of Iran and the U.S. do meet, it will be the first since April 1, when Iran and the P5+1 group reached a framework agreement in Lausanne, Switzerland. "The U.S. government is responsible for implementing the agreement," the official Iranian news agency quoted Zarif as saying, emphasizing that from Tehran's perspective, "the U.S. government will be responsible for the implementation of the nuclear agreement, and internal disagreements in that country will not exempt it from fulfilling its international obligations." Zarif's remarks refer to the disagreements between Barack Obama and his administration on one side and critics and opponents of the agreement in the U.S. on the other. The U.S. President had previously reacted to threats regarding the cancellation of the final agreement, stating that the threat from a potential Republican candidate in the 2016 U.S. elections to cancel the nuclear agreement with Iran is "foolish." In New York, Zarif also reiterated the issue of sanctions and how they will be lifted; "According to the framework we reached in the Lausanne talks, sanctions will be lifted simultaneously with the implementation of the agreement, and the Security Council resolutions will also be annulled through a new resolution." The method of lifting sanctions, in the event of reaching a final agreement, is one of the most contentious issues between the parties, which reports indicate has occupied a significant part of the negotiations. Zarif stated that what was agreed upon in the Lausanne talks must be formalized in the final stage as an enforceable document so that their implementation phase can begin after the signing of this document. Iranian officials had previously announced that negotiations for drafting the final agreement text between Iran and the world powers would continue from Monday in New York. The deadline set for reaching a comprehensive text for the final agreement is July 6.