China calls for support for Iran nuclear deal

UNITED NATIONS -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday called for support for the July 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) reached between Iran and the six world powers of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States is important for international security governance as it has helped defuse the Iran nuclear crisis and has bolstered the international non-proliferation regime with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as its bedrock, said Wang.

The agreement is also an important outcome of global governance on security and a beneficial practice of solving a hot spot issue through political and diplomatic means, Wang told a meeting between the foreign ministers of the six countries and Iran at the UN Headquarters in New York.

After the conclusion of the agreement, its implementation made headway and also faced severe challenges, said Wang. He expressed the hope that Wednesday's meeting will send out a positive message of support for the JCPOA, thus promoting its implementation.

Wang said all parties should look at the positive side of the JCPOA as no agreement is perfect. Should the agreement be discarded, the international non-proliferation regime would be severely impacted and the situation in the Middle East might worsen, he told the meeting.

The recent development of the situation on the Korean Peninsula demonstrates the significance of the JCPOA, said Wang.

He expressed the hope that all parties would make the right political judgment and create favorable conditions for the implementation of the agreement.

He also urged related parties to take up their obligations in order to ensure the effective implementation of the deal and solve their differences through dialogue.

China supports the JCPOA and is willing to work to preserve it, said Wang. China is ready to continue its participation in the implementation process, he said.

The JCPOA faces the risk of collapse amid a fallout between Washington and Tehran.

In his speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump described the JCPOA as "an embarrassment."

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday that his country will not be the first to violate the agreement, but will respond "decisively and resolutely" to its violation by any party.

"It will be a great pity if this agreement were to be destroyed by rogue newcomers to the world of politics," Rouhani told the UN General Assembly, in obvious response to Trump's attack the day earlier.