Azernews.Az

By Gunay Hasanova

The United Nations has hailed Iran’s will to cooperate closely with the organization after the removal of international sanctions.

After the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Iran has shown great will to engage and cooperate with the United Nations to fulfill the body’s goals, UNDP Resident Representative in Iran Gary Lewis told Trend on October 30 on the occasion of the UN Day event in Tehran.

"We have had incredible cooperation for the last three-four years, but in the last year especially, I’ve seen Iran re-engage with the international community at a number of levels. Especially the issue of sustainable development and Paris agreement,” Lewis said.

Iran and world powers reached the milestone nuclear agreement (JCPOA) on July 14, 2015. The agreement was later implemented on January 16 after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verified that Iran’s nuclear program was peaceful.

The sanction pressures on Iran started easing after the United Nations confirmed compliance with a multilateral nuclear agreement, while progress in nuclear talks between Iran and the 5+1 group of countries triggered hopes that energy giants may return to Iran.

Hence, the implementation of the JCPOA has paved the way for Iran to act as part to many international engagements.

Moreover, Lewis underlined the presence of Vice President for Environment Masumeh Ebtekar and Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi at the event as "a very strong signal" from Tehran.

"Earlier this year Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif went to New York to sign the Paris agreement and that was an amazing indication of how Iran wants to contribute to sustainable development. So we are very encouraged and we will continue," Lewis reiterated.

Sustainable development and environment were the major topics raised during the UN event in Tehran. In April, Zarif signed the historic Paris Agreement on climate change during a ceremony at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

A record 175 countries, including the world's top producers of greenhouse gasses China and the United States, inked the accord, raising hopes of restraining global warming, according to UN.

The ceremony, held on the 46th Earth Day, was the largest ever single-day signing of an international accord. The agreement had been reached in Paris in December 2015.

The agreement sets out a global action plan to put the world on track to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2°C. The agreement is due to enter into force in 2020.

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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova

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