Iran says up to US to move first on saving nuclear deal
It is up to the United States to make the first move in saving the Iran nuclear deal, Iran’s ambassador in Geneva told the UN-sponsored Conference on Disarmament on Wednesday. “The onus is on the offending party to return, restart and compensate for the damages as well as to reassure that they would not renege again,” Ambassador Esmaeil Baghaei Hamaneh said. “There is a path forward with a logical sequence as (Iranian Foreign) Minister (Mohammad Javad) Zarif recently outlined.”
islamabad: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Wednesday expressed his confidence that the 11party anti-government alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), would come out triumphant in the Senate elections, adding that the victory of the alliance’s joint candidate would usher in a new age of democracy.
“Insha’Allah, Senate elections will be a victory for democracy and for democratic candidates. And Yousuf Raza Gillani’s win will usher in a new chapter of democracy,” the PPP chairman said while addressing a press conference in Lahore alongside the aforementioned joint candidate, Gillani.
He thanked the other parties of the alliance for placing their faith in the senior PPP leader, adding that the PDM’s Inflation March would take place at the end of next month.
“Yousuf Raza Gillani (when he was premier) would respond to questions from the government and opposition, come to the parliament, give everyone respect […] because you are the leader of the entire House, not your own political party,” he said, adding that the opus was now on the voters to decide upon a candidate that would assure the betterment of the country.
“This is a test for the members of our assembly. Will you vote according to the people’s expectations or out of fear of Imran Khan?” Bilawal asked. He asserted that the PDM was as united as it had ever been, and explained that the antigovernment coalition was focused on the Senate elections for now, but it would soon revisit the idea of the no-confidence motion.
The PPP chairman said PDM has been “working against the illegitimate, incompetent and unqualified government from day one”.
“We know we are descending down on the battlefield with fewer votes. We know it seems our numbers are low. But even with these small numbers, we are giving the government a tough time,” he maintained.
Responding to a question about the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf’s (PTI) strongman Jahangir Khan Tareen’s return to the party fold, Bilawal said that the PDM might not be able to compete with the “airplane poses” but they would do so on the basis of “our character and democracy.”