Iranian FM Zarif, Dutch FM Koenders Hold Joint Press Conference

Iranian FM Zarif, Dutch FM Koenders Hold Joint Press Conference
Sun Sep 20, 2015 15:50:10

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reiterated that Iran nuclear agreement should be considered as an achievement by the diplomacy rather than a transaction.

Dr. Zarif made the remarks during a joint press conference with his visiting Dutch counterpart Bert Koenders on Sunday.

He said the political relations between Iran and the Netherlands, fallen considerably in recent years, will be expanded given the proper opportunities provided after reaching an agreement on Iran's nuclear deal.

Zarif said Iran-Netherlands political and economic relations dated back to centuries ago. He said the relationship during the past few years has significantly reduced and now it is possible to return to past relationships with the passing of problems.

He underlined that Iranian people distrust the US government especially after the anti-Iran remarks by US politicians and officials following the conclusion of JCPOA.

Zarif expressed hope that US would fulfil its commitments under JCPOA and in this way it would compensate for the mistrust created during the past decades and would adopt a new approach towards the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Zarif underlined that we are prepared to cooperate with our partners in the EU in political, economic, regional and international fields. "I believe that proper grounds have been provided for cooperation between Iran and the Netherlands, France and other states," Zarif added.

Prior to the implementation of JCPOA, Zarif said, "we have witnessed massive presence of western trade delegations in Iran, so we should consider the outcomes of Geneva agreement from various perspectives, one is to prevent the spread of the sanctions which all were illegal and unjust."

"After the implementation of the agreement, there should be preparedness for the positive outcomes to emerge; the point is that the proper implementation of the agreement is the best guarantee for maintaining the serious approach towards the agreement and keeping it alive," Zarif added.

Zarif underlined that the agreement should be considered as an achievement by the diplomacy rather than a transaction. "If you consider the agreement as a diplomatic achievement then positive actions will be taken and we will be able to move forward and efforts will be made in order to pave the way for the implementation of the agreement in order to turn it into a role model for the future behavior of the country."

Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders, for his part, dubbed Iran's nuclear deal as a success for multilateral diplomacy. He underlined that EU will work to ensure Iran nuclear deal is being implemented in all its aspects.

"The current diplomatic victory is one that has to be taken very seriously and therefore we will do our best to ensure that this leads to the consequences that we all want and it is the politics of engagement," Koenders added.

Stressing that a new period of engagement has been started in relations with Iran, Koenders said, "I am looking very positively to the future of the relations between Iran and the Netherlands which, as Iranian Foreign Minister said, enjoys a long-standing relations in many areas. There are always ups and downs. Now the relations on the basis of the agreement can move forward and the Netherlands will do outmost to ensure that the milestone is leading to what all we want, which is to improve relationships."

For the first time in 14 years, the Netherlands’ Foreign Minister Bert Koenders arrived in Iran on Sunday for an official two-day visit; MNA reported.

string(1465) "[{"id":"1730772","sort":"3413299","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2015/08/19/alalam_635755955970250618_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"Iran’s FM Zarif Meets ISCI’s Head Ammar Hakim"} ,{"id":"1732190","sort":"3413298","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2015/08/24/alalam_635760131389625944_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"UK’s FM Hammond, Iran’s FM Zarif Hold Joint Press Conference"} ,{"id":"1732609","sort":"3413297","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2015/08/25/alalam_635761205092165046_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"Iran’s FM Zarif Meets Ghanaian Counterpart in Tehran"} ,{"id":"1734303","sort":"3413296","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2015/08/31/alalam_635766348618655296_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"Iran’s FM Zarif Urges Closer Ties with Latin America"} ,{"id":"1734354","sort":"3413295","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2015/08/31/alalam_635766427884592183_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"Zarif Hails Social, Political Participation of Tunisian Muslims"} ,{"id":"1736243","sort":"3413294","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2015/09/06/alalam_635771479147293899_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"Iran’s FM Zarif Receives Iraqi Minister Zebari in Tehran"} ,{"id":"1738974","sort":"3413293","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2015/09/15/alalam_635779231747310175_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"Iran’s FM Zarif, Chinese Counterpart Hold Joint Press Conferense"} ,{"id":"1740641","sort":"3413292","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"/2015/09/20/alalam_635783512634268562_25f_4x3.jpg","title":"Iran’s FM Zarif, IAEA Chief Amano Hold Talks in Tehran"} ]"