Khameni says Iran won’t tolerate both nuclear curbs and sanctions

TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian Supreme Keader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warns European leaders against their “dream” of Tehran continuing to curb its nuclear program while finding itself under new economic sanctions.

“From some European countries we get the message that they expect the Iranian people to both tolerate the sanctions, deal with the sanctions, and go along with them, and give up our nuclear energy activities and continue with the restrictions,” he tells an audience in a Tehran suburb.

“I would tell these countries that they should be aware that this is a dream that will never come true.”

Khamenei was speaking nearly a month after US President Donald Trump announced the United States was pulling out of the landmark Iran nuclear deal.

The remaining partners — Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia — have scrambled to save the 2015 accord as the US readies to reimpose sanctions on Tehran.

“The people of Iran and the government of Iran will never tolerate both suffering from sanctions and nuclear restrictions,” says Khamenei.

“This will never happen,” he says during a ceremony to mark the 29th anniversary of the death of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

— AFP