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RFL/RE – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned against ditching a landmark international accord on Iran’s nuclear program if it could not be replaced with viable alternative.
U.S. President Donald Trump has been a strong critic of the 2015 agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), under which Tehran agreed to limit its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
Trump has given the European signatories a May 12 deadline to fix what he calls the “terrible flaws” in the deal, threatening to effectively pull Washington out by refusing to extend waivers on U.S. sanctions if they do not do so.
Other signatories of the accord — France, Britain, Germany, Russia, and China — have urged Washington to remain a part of the deal, although the Western allies have also expressed concerns about the terms.
“If one day there is a better agreement to replace it, it’s fine, but we should not scrap it unless we have a good alternative,” Guterres said in an interview with BBC Radio 4.
“I believe the JCPOA was an important diplomatic victory and I think it will be important to preserve it but I also believe there are areas in which it will be very important to have a meaningful dialogue because I see the region in a very dangerous position,” he said.
Based on reporting by Reuters and BBC
