Iran FM urges effective implementation of nuclear deal

Here is a round-up of global news developments:

• Iran’s foreign minister tells his American counterpart that Tehran should get the benefits it is entitled to under the nuclear deal with the P5+1 group. Mohammad Javad Zarif made the remark at a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry at the UN headquarters in New York.
• Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossein Jaberi-Ansari has extended the Islamic Republic’s condolences to the Ecuadorian people and government for the country’s deadly earthquake. More than 400 people were killed as a result of Saturday’s magnitude 7.8 temblor which hit the South American nation. 
• Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says Ankara may call off its refugee deal with the European Union unless the bloc eases visa rules for Turkish citizens quickly. According to the March 18 agreement, the EU has promised to ease visa rules for Turkish citizens.
• A Saudi-backed Syrian opposition group says its delegates are leaving the UN-backed peace talks with government representatives in Geneva. The High Negotiations Committee said there will be no solution to the Syria crisis as long as President Bashar al-Assad is in power. The UN-backed truce came into effect in late February.
• Syria says it is open to talks on creation of a broader unity government. Syria’s UN envoy Bashar al-Ja’afari, however, says the possible government has to have President Bashar al-Assad at its center. Ja’afari lashed out at Saudi-backed opposition groups that left Geneva negotiations, describing their move as childish.
• Unknown assailants have fired rockets on a police convoy in Egypt’s restive Sinai Peninsula, killing three officers. Several other policemen were wounded in the ambush which took place near the town of Zuweid. No group has claimed responsibility but Daesh-affiliated militants are usually behind such attacks.
• The UN chief denounces rising attacks on refugees in Europe. Ban Ki-moon called for ‘political will’ to resolve the crisis by identifying its root cause. Europe is grappling with its worst refugee crisis in decades. Over one million people entered the continent illegally in 2015 alone via the sea and Turkey.
• A US judge has reduced the conviction of a former New York City police officer in the 2014 fatal shooting of an unarmed black man. The judge gave Peter Liang 800 hours of community service and five years of probation. In February, another judge had convicted him of manslaughter. 

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