The United Nations joins the supporters of Iran Deal, amid the increasing possibility that the US may quit

Tabnak – As the countdown has started for the US president to announce his decision on Iran nuclear deal, more international voices are raised in favor of keeping the deal intact. The United Nations secretary general is the latest in line of international figures who have expressed their support for the Iran deal.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has praised the Iran nuclear deal as “an important diplomatic victory” and warned against destroying the seven-party agreement without any “alternative.”

In an interview with BBC Radio 4 on Thursday, the UN chief said, “I believe the JCPOA (the Iran nuclear deal) was an important diplomatic victory and I think it will be important to preserve it.”

“If one day there is a better agreement to replace it, it is fine, but we should not scrap it unless we have a good alternative," Guterres said

The UN chief underlined the need for “a meaningful dialog” with regard to some countries’ concerns about Iran’s role in the region, but noted that the issue must be viewed separately from Tehran’s nuclear deal.

“I understand the concerns of some countries in relation to the Iranian influence in other countries of the region. So I think we should separate things,” he said.

US President Donald Trump has been threatening to pull out of the agreement, leading to diplomatic tensions with Iran as well as with US allies keen to preserve the agreement.

Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) reached the 159-page nuclear agreement in July 2015 and started to implement it in January 2016.

Ever since the deal took effect, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed Iran’s compliance with the JCPOA in all quarterly reports, but some other parties, especially the US, have failed to live up to their undertakings.

Trump in January set a 120-day deadline for US lawmakers and European allies to “fix” his predecessor Barack Obama’s main foreign policy achievement or face a US exit.

Meanwhile, Iran's ambassador to the UK says that the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal will result in its termination. "When the United States is out of the deal, it means that there is no deal left," said Hamid Baeidinejad during an interview with CNN aired on Wednesday.

"Because an important party of the treaty has abrogated and violated in clear terms the treaty," he added. He further noted that Tehran would "be ready to go back to the previous situation" if Washington ditches the JCPOA as threatened by US President Donald Trump.

"It could be enriching uranium, it could be redefining our cooperation with the agency and some other activities that are under consideration," he also said.

Earlier on Wednesday, China stressed that all sides should continue to uphold the Iran nuclear agreement amid threats by the United States and efforts by the Israeli regime to kill the landmark deal.

President Emanuel Macron of France also reaffirmed support for the multilateral agreement, adding however that it should be expanded to include other issues. Speaking at a news conference in Australia on Wednesday, Macron warned against attempts at sabotaging the nuclear deal, noting that no one wants more regional tensions.