Iran FM Zarif to Visit Philippines Saturday

The visit is aimed at holding meetings with the officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and also signing a cooperation agreement. The Iranian official would also sign the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia.

Zarif will visit Manila after his Central Asian tour, during which he first visited Tajikistan and discussed a range of issues with Tajik officials and took part in the opening ceremony of Iran’s new embassy building in Dushanbe.

The Iranian top diplomat then headed to the historical city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan to attend an international conference on security. He held talks with the Uzbek officials and also the EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini.

He later told reporters that in his meeting with Mogherini they discussed the EU’s efforts to fully implement the nuclear deal and their insistence on implementation of the JCPOA.

Zarifd also added that he has stressed Iran’s full compliance with the accord during this meeting saying that the new US administration has not been committed to the deal, and has been creating an inappropriate atmosphere.

“This situation should be handled by the European countries,” underlined Zarif.

“I also stressed that, as the Leader of the Islamic Revolution emphasized in his statements, we welcome the Europeans’ support for the nuclear deal, but Europe needs to be more active and take practical measures regarding the implementation of the JCPOA and the parties’ compliance with their obligations towards Iran,” noted Zarif.