PUTRAJAYA, July 17 — Malaysia in principle supports Iran’s nuclear agreement with the world powers, which is known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Dr Wan Azizah said the JCPOA is one of the areas the Islamic Republic of Iran is seeking Malaysia’s cooperation on.

This message was conveyed by Iran’s Vice-President for Women and Family Affairs Dr Masoumeh Ebtekar during her courtesy call on Dr Wan Azizah last week.

“The message from the President of the Islamic republic of Iran Dr Hassan Rouhani is about the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) which is a very important agreement for peace and security. Unfortunately, Trump unilaterally withdrew from the agreement.

“Our expectation is that other countries like Malaysia, which we have had close relations with, will find innovative ways to solve this issue within the same framework,” she said.

Also present at the meeting was Iran’s Deputy Oil Minister Marzieh Shahdaei and Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Malaysia Marzieh Afkham.

Malaysia, she said, is of the view that all states must adhere to the fundamental principles related to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and welcomes the JCPOA as an important development in efforts to promote peace, security and stability in the world.

Dr Wan Azizah added that Malaysia believes that the JCPOA will contribute to efforts to eliminate the threat of weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear weapons, and hopes that all parties will uphold the agreement and focus on its constructive implementation.

Dr Masoumeh said Iran is also interested in increasing and diversifying areas of cooperation with Malaysia in addition to working together on existing areas.

“I would like to propose a policy dialogue together on different issues, not just the JCPOA, but issues such as combatting terrorism, issues affecting the Muslim world and issues that are important to both our nations.

“You are a new government. You have a lot of challenges. You are fighting corruption. These are issues that we also face.

“The advancement of women in Iran is an important objective for us and working on these issues is an important narrative today,” she said, adding that scientific and academic exchanges should be intensified between both countries.

Dr Wan Azizah, who is also Minister of Women, Family and Community Development, agreed.

“We look forward to a better and closer cooperation between our countries, especially in the field of women and in fighting extremism.

“True Islam is moderate, tolerant and very attractive. We shouldn’t have this mindset of making it punitive and stern.

“We should move ahead in our trade relations, in the field of education, tourism and other spheres of mutual interest,” she said.

The deputy premier also stressed the importance of family and instilling good values.

“We should collaborate more as we agree that family is important.

“The core of society must be good values. Poverty eradication is another area we should work together on,” said Dr Wan Azizah.

Dr Masoumeh agreed, adding that Iran has a national dialogue on the family which addresses the different issues families face today.

“We are working specifically on educating and training families to enhance communication skills and dialogue. Social media and the internet are taking a lot of time away from everyone and communication skills are challenged by this.

“Internet is an important technology but you have to learn how to use this technology in the right way,” she said, adding that  maintaining a balance between work and family and understanding the importance of this is also important.

She added that Iran is also interested in learning from Malaysia’s proposal to create a safety-net for full-time housewives in the form of contributions from the husband to the wives’ pension fund.

For 2017, bilateral trade between Malaysia and Iran increased by 61.2 per cent to RM4.52 billion compared to RM2.81 billion in 2016.

Total exports witnessed an increase of 50.4 per cent or RM3.25 billion compared to RM2.16 billion in 2016, while total imports increased 97.2 per cent to RM1.28 billion from RM0.64 billion in 2016.

This resulted in a trade surplus of RM1.99 billion in Malaysia’s favour. — Bernama