Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said upon arriving in Vienna that “all oppressive sanctions imposed against the Islamic Republic will be annulled today.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said upon arriving in Vienna that “all oppressive sanctions imposed against the Islamic Republic will be annulled today.”

“Today, with the submission of the report by the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the JCPOA will in fact become implemented, and after that, a joint statement… will be read out to announce the implementation,” Zarif told reporters.

“We think that the implementation of the JCPOA is not only a very good opportunity for the Iranian people by which all the oppressive Security Council sanctions, all the resolutions of the IAEA Board of Governors will end and officially be annulled, but all the oppressive sanctions that have been imposed over the nuclear issue against the Islamic Republic will God willing be annulled today… and this is a very good day for the Iranian people,” Zarif said.

“But, besides, we believe that this is a very good day for the region; our region will be relieved of the shadow of an unnecessary conflict that could have caused worry for this region,” he added.

“This is also a good day for the world,” the Iranian foreign minister said, adding, “Today is a day when we prove to the world that threats, sanctions, intimidation, pressure don’t work; respect works.”

“Through respect, through dialog, through negotiations, we can in fact reach mutually-acceptable solutions, implement mutually-acceptable solutions, prove that the nay-sayers were always wrong, and therefore move towards a world in which diplomacy – not force, not pressure – will prevail,” Zarif said.