BAGHDAD
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said Monday that he had presented a report on this month’s landmark deal on Iran’s nuclear energy program to Iranian-born Shia leader Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in southern Iraq.
At a joint press conference held in Iraq, where Zarif is currently on a days-long visit, the Iranian FM said his report to al-Sistani covered “the progress of ongoing negotiations [over as-yet-unresolved issues], as well as the challenges” that Iran continues to face.
Al-Sistani, for his part, told reporters that international cooperation was still necessary “to counter terrorism and extremism,” in reference to the Daesh militant group, which remains in control of large parts of Iraq and Syria.
On Sunday, Zarif arrived in Iraq’s southern city of Najaf – where al-Sistani is based – for an official visit during which he will also meet his Iraqi counterpart and the Iraqi prime minister in Baghdad.
On July 14, Iran and the P5+1 group of nations signed a final agreement in Vienna ending nearly two years of talks. The deal calls for an end to longstanding international sanctions on the Islamic republic in return for curbs on and inspections of its nuclear energy program.
