�IRNA � The South African foreign minister stressed on Wednesday the necessity of supporting the Iran nuclear deal formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).


Pretoria supports the Iran nuclear deal, Lindiwe Sisulu said in a meeting with her visiting Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif who arrived in South Africa on Tuesday.

Zarif is to meet with South African president later in the day.

Zarif's travel to South Africa is aimed at discussing the issues of mutual interests as well as the JCPOA from which the US President Donald Trump withdrew unilaterally drawing sharp criticism from world leaders including Russia and China and the European Union (EU) as well.

When the then South African president visited Tehran about two years ago, the two countries took measures to develop cooperation in the areas of transportation, shipping, tourism and banking.