Iranian FM warns of ‘unfavorable measures’ if US pulls out of nuke deal
Zarif criticizes Europeans for not pressuring Trump to abide by US commitments
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Iran’s foreign minister warned on Friday that a US pullout from the international nuclear deal it signed with the Islamic Republic would be met with “measures” that would be “very unfavorable for the Americans.”
Mohammad Javad Zarif’s comments followed a warning Thursday by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that Iran would immediately restart nuclear efforts if Washington walks away from the deal signed between Tehran and world powers in 2015.
Speaking upon his arrival in New York for a six-day trip that will include attending the UN’s two-day High Level Meeting on Peace building and Sustaining Peace, scheduled to start on Tuesday, Zarif said the parley would “give us the opportunity to present the stances of the Islamic Republic of Iran especially in regards to the proposals for establishing dialogue and sustainable security in the Persian Gulf region and in our neighborhood,” the Iranian Mehr News Agency reported.
He added, “The measures to be undertaken by the Islamic Republic of Iran and the response of the international community to [the] US leaving the JCPOA will be very unfavorable for the Americans.”
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was signed in 2015 between Tehran and six world powers, including the US, under then-president Barack Obama.
It curbed Tehran’s controversial nuclear enrichment program in exchange for relief from international sanctions.
President Donald Trump, however, has termed the agreement the “worst deal ever” and has called on the other signatories to “fix it.”
He has threatened to tear up the agreement unless new restrictions are imposed on Iran’s ballistic missile program and other military activities by May 12.
Press TV quoted Zarif accusing Trump of shirking US commitments, indicating that the Europeans had failed to pressure the White House to honor the agreements.
“If the European countries want to preserve the deal, they have to make it sustainable for Iran,” he was quoted as saying. “They need to impose pressure on the United States in order to compel the US, encourage the US to implement what it undertook under the deal. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been doing that.”
Zarif said that in all events, Tehran would make no “concessions,” and that any suggestion to renegotiate the deal would “not get a positive answer” from the Islamic Republic.
The Times of Israel Community.