China willing to work with all parties to safeguard Iran nuclear deal

China is willing to work with all parties to continue safeguarding the Iran nuclear deal, said the visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday in Singapore.

Wang made the remarks while meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers' meeting and related meetings.

Whether the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal, fully known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), can be continued or not has aroused the attention of the international community, Wang said.

It has brought a new risk to and posed a new challenge for the situation in the Middle East, he said.

Wang said that China has always held the view that JCPOA is a multilateral deal, which was verified and approved by the United Nations Security Council and accords the common interests of all parties and the international community. The deal must be respected and safeguarded so as to maintain the authority of the United Nations, the effectiveness of multilateral deals and the credibility of international rules, he added.

For this end, China is willing to enhance communication and cooperation with all parties, including Iran, and do its best to continue safeguarding the deal, so as to maintain peace and stability in the region and the world at large, said Wang.

For his part, Zarif said that Iran and China are strategic partners and China has played an important role in the hammering out and implementation of JCPOA.

Iran is willing to continue safeguarding and implementing the deal and will continue to work with the parties concerned, including China and European countries, said the Iranian foreign minister.

The United States has unilaterally announced its pullout from the deal and has also threatened to restart unilateral sanctions on Iran, which violates the related resolutions of the United Nations and is opposed by all parties, Zarif noted.

The Iranian foreign minister hoped that the United States would listen to the voices of the international community and reverse its wrongdoings.