Seeking de-escalation of tensions with U.S. a foreign policy priority: Iranian FM

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Tuesday that seeking de-escalation of tensions with the United States is among Iran's foreign policy priorities.

The top Iranian diplomat made the remarks in a meeting with members

of the Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy

Commission, the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.

"De-escalation of tensions and tension management with the U.S. are

among the Foreign Ministry's priorities," Zarif said while elaborating

on the his ministry's programs for the second term in office of

President Hassan Rouhani.

"We want peace among countries and we do not want tension," Zarif said.

He made the remarks after the U.S. administration led by President

donald Trump imposed new sanctions on Iran, which Tehran slammed as a

violation of the Iranian-U.S. nuclear agreement.

Talking about the nuclear deal, under which the U.S. had eased

economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for its commitment to peaceful

use of nuclear energy, Zarif said that the U.S. cannot prevent Iran from

benefiting from the agreement.

The Iranian-U.S. nuclear agreement, formally called the Joint

Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was signed in July last year after

years of tough negotiations on the controversial Iranian nuclear

program.

Zarif said that the Iranian Foreign Ministry is committed to defend

Iran interests enshrined in the nuclear deal, adding that the U.S.

itself will pay the costs of its potential termination.

The minister also said that the big number of foreign delegations

attending Rouhani's inauguration ceremony on Saturday means that the

policy of isolating Iran has failed and the Iranophobia plot has been

foiled.