UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday asked the parties concerned to keep the Iran nuclear deal, which risks falling apart amid mounting hostility between Washington and Tehran.
"For the secretary-general, the Iran nuclear deal is one of the most important diplomatic achievements in our search for peace and stability," Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a news briefing at UN Headquarters on Tuesday. "Everyone involved needs to do its utmost to support that agreement."
The UN response came at a critical time when the agreement between Iran and the five world powers of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States faces a serious threat of collapse.
Iran's atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi warned earlier Tuesday that his country could resume production of highly enriched uranium within five days if the 2015 deal is revoked.
"If we decide, we can reach 20 percent (uranium) enrichment within five days," he was quoted by state media as saying. But he added that Iran's priority was to preserve the nuclear deal.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who during his election campaign had called the Iran nuclear deal a "disaster" and "the worst deal ever negotiated," approved new sanctions on Tehran this month for its missile program. Iran accused Washington of breaching the 2015 agreement. But Washington argued that the sanctions were not related to the nuclear deal.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has warned that his country could pull out of the deal should Washington impose any new sanctions.
