Iran sees China as ‘pivotal’ to salvaging its nuclear deal

China is “pivotal” to salvaging a multilateral nuclear agreement after the United States pulled out of the pact earlier this year, Iran’s foreign minister said on Friday. “The role of China in the implementation of JCPOA, in achieving JCPOA, and now in sustaining JCPOA, will be pivotal,” Reuters quoted Mohammad Javad Zarif as saying. The minister was referring to the technical name for the nuclear deal. US President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 deal in May and ordered US sanctions on Tehran. International sanctions were lifted under the agreement between world powers and Tehran in return for its curbs on the nuclear program. Iran and other signatories, including China, have been trying to salvage the deal.