Iran's foreign minister says his country is committed to an international nuclear deal and criticized escalating U.S. sanctions as "unacceptable" as he met with Japanese officials in Tokyo amid rising tensions in the Middle East.
Iran is exercising "maximum restraint in spite of the fact [that] the United States withdrew from JCPOA [the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] last May," Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said at the beginning of his meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono.
Iran recently threatened to resume higher enrichment in 60 days if no new nuclear deal is in place by then. This would fall beyond the level permitted by the current deal between Tehran and world powers. The U.S. pulled out of the JCPOA signed in 2015 by the U.S., Iran and other countries, under which Iran curbed its uranium enrichment capacity and won sanctions relief in return.
U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the agreement last year and is ratcheting up sanctions on Iran, aiming to strangle its economy by ending its international sales of crude oil. Japan was a major buyer of Iranian oil for decades before the sanctions.
Kono expressed concern over rising tensions in the Middle East and urged Zarif to use restraint and keep implementing the current nuclear agreement.
Japan would like to maintain, and develop, its traditionally friendly ties with Iran, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Zarif on Thursday.
