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Indonesia reiterates support for Iran nuclear deal

Indonesia has again voiced its support for the Iran nuclear deal, saying it was the only way for the international community to monitor the country’s peaceful nuclear activities

Ary Hermawan (The Jakarta Post)
Tehran
Wed, January 24, 2018

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Indonesia reiterates support for Iran nuclear deal

I

ndonesia has again voiced its support for the Iran nuclear deal, saying it was the only way for the international community to monitor the country’s peaceful nuclear activities.

The Indonesian government issued the statement following the threat made by President Donald Trump to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the international agreement on the Iran nuclear program signed in July 2015 under the Barack Obama
administration.

The deal was reached between Iran and the P5 + 1, which is the five permanent members of the United Nations — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — and the European Union.

Trump argued that the deal was flawed and that his Jan. 12 decision to waiver the sanctions leveled at Iran, which is part of the deal, was “the last” chance and was made only to give the EU a chance “to fix the terrible flaws” in the deal.

“For Indonesia, it is loud and clear that we support the JCPOA and its implementation,” Indonesian Ambassador to Iran Octavino Alimudin told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Octavino said Indonesia respected the United States decision to evaluate the nuclear deal but called on “President Trump to also consider the reality that the United Nations as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) deems that Iran is complying with the deal.”

Trump, who appears to relish undoing many of his predecessor’s key policies, has accused Tehran of misusing the proceeds from the lifting of the economic sanctions imposed on the republic.

“In the absence of such an agreement, the United States will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal. And if at any time I judge that such an agreement is not within reach, I will withdraw from the deal immediately,” Trump said in his speech.

Iran maintained that that it had complied with the deal and called on all parties to honor the agreement. “Everyone agrees it is imperative that all live up to their obligations under JCPOA. The IAEA has verified Iran’s full compliance, but continuation will depend on full US compliance,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said.

The JCPOA, Octavian said, had also been instrumental in improving trade relations between Iran and Indonesia. “There are some achievements. For example, we resumed our LPG [liquefied petroleum gas] imports from Iran, which was not possible when sanctions were in place.”

Between January and September 2017, Indonesia’s trade with Iran stood at US$4476 million, a 167 percent increase from the $174 million reached during the same period in 2016.

Octavian said Indonesia was optimistic that the nuclear deal would remain in place despite Trump’s efforts to undermine it. He also added that relations between Indonesia and Iran would not only hinge on the nuclear deal and that the two countries would continue to strengthen their cooperation.

“The potential for our cooperation is quite high,” said Mahmoud Farazandeh, the director-general for Asia Pacific at the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

Indonesia’s state-owned energy company Pertamina is currently seeking to explore the Ab-Teymour and Mansouri oil and gas fields in Iran. The company signed a memorandum of understanding with its Iranian counterpart, the National Iran Oil Company (NIOC), in August last year.

Both countries are expected to establish a joint commission on trade this year and to finalize the negotiations on preferential tariffs.

Indonesia’s main export commodities to Iran are paper and paper products, as well as palm oil, while Indonesia’s imported commodities from Iran are petroleum, gypsum, iron and steel products and sulfur.

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