Zarif suggests JCPOA could be salvaged before Raisi takes office

Iran’s outgoing foreign minister says there is ‘good possibility’ for agreement before end of current gov’t’s tenure.

Iran’s outgoing Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has expressed optimism about the talks in Vienna aimed at salvaging his country’s nuclear deal with world powers, suggesting an agreement might be possible even before new President-elect Ebrahim Raisi takes office in August. “There is a good possibility that we will reach an agreement before the end of our tenure,” Zarif told Al Jazeera’s Semi Zeidan during a session of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum on Saturday, on the same day that Raisi, a conservative, was declared the winner of Iran’s presidential election. The 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was signed to curb Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.