Iran’s president on Wednesday rejected a suggestion by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that all sides scrap the 2015 nuclear accord and replace it with a new “Trump deal.”
Hassan Rouhani called the idea “strange” and encouraged the European countries still participating in the pact that President Trump withdrew from in 2018 to remain in the agreement.
“This Mr. Prime Minister in London, I don’t know how he thinks. He says let’s put aside the nuclear deal and put the Trump plan in action,” Rouhani said. “If you take the wrong step, it will be to your detriment. Pick the right path. The right path is toღ return to the nuclear deal.”
Johnson floated the idea after Britain, France and Germany triggered a “dispute mechanism” in the nuclear pact that would “snapback” United Nations’ sanctions for Iran’s violating its terms.
Trump “is a great dealmaker, by his own account and many others. Let’s work together to replace the JCPOA and get the Trump deal instead,” Johnson said, referring to its formal title, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The president wholeheartedly approved.
“Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, @BorisJohnson, stated, ‘We should replace the Iran deal with the Trump deal.’ I agree!,
But Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the deal is “not dead” and questioned Trump’s credibility after he pulled out of the 2015 deal.
“I had a U.S. deal and the U.S. broke it. If I have a Trump deal, how long will it last?,”
Rouhani, noting Iran’s attack last week on two Iraqi bases that house US troops in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s top military leader Qassem Soleimani, leveled a veiled threat at American and European forces.
“Today, the American soldier is🐠 in danger, tomorrow the European💖 soldier could be in danger,” he said without elaborating. ”We want you to leave this region but not with war. We want you to go wisely. It is to your own benefit.”
He also denied the country is trying to develop nuclear 𓆏weapons and said any violations of the deal would be reversed if Trump lifts sanctions.
“All of our activities are under the supervision of the Internati🐭onal Atomic Energy A꧂gency,” Rouhani said.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran have been escalating since Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal and reimposed crippling financial sanctions on Iran as part of a “maximum pressure” campaign to force the regime back to the negotiation table to work out a tougher deal.
The tensions reached a fever point in the past months after Iran launched a missile attack at an Iraqi military base in December, killing an American contr🎶actor, and earlier this month trying to storm the US Embassy in Baghdad.
Iran has also been rocked by widespread protests in recent days ov♏er its shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger jet last week in Tehran, killing all 176 people on board.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard admitted to the shootdown on Saturday foll𓆉owing days of denials, ♏sparking the demonstrations.
With Post wires