Alwaght-Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has flatly rejected US President Donald Trump’s demand that a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers be revised.
Rouhani said in a televised speech on Friday moments after Trump delivered a speech outlining US strategy on the Islamic Republic pointed out that, the agreement would remain intact and no article or paragraph would be added or taken away from it.
He added that one president alone cannot abrogate an international deal, saying, “He [Trump] apparently does not know that this is not a bilateral document between Iran and the US for him to act in any way he wishes.”
Rouhani said Iran will only respect its nuclear deal commitments so long as its rights are safeguarded, adding, “Iran will honor its commitments as long as its interests are served.”
He also emphasized that the Islamic Republic has cooperated and would continue its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency as long as the country’s interests are protected and its rights are preserved.
Iran will not surrender to any power
“The Iranian nation has not surrender to any power and will not do so in the future,” Rouhani said, emphasizing that many countries supported former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the imposed war against Iran in the 1980s but they failed to defeat the Iranians.
The US president refused to certify the 2015 international nuclear agreement between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany and warned he might ultimately terminate it, in defiance of other world powers and undermining a landmark victory of multilateral diplomacy. He gave the US Congress 60 days to decide whether to re-impose economic sanctions against Tehran that were lifted under the pact.
Other signatories of the accord such as the UK, France, China, Russia and Germany, as well as the European Union are vehemently opposed to nuclear-related sanctions against Iran.
President Rouhani further blasted Trump saying his speech against the Islamic Republic was nothing more than insults and delirious talk.
“Mr. Trump’s remarks on Iran…contained nothing but expletives and a pile of delusional allegations against the Iranian nation,” Rouhani said.
Iranians fully back IRGC
President Rouhani further pointed to Trump's announcement of sanctions against Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), saying, "The IRGC is a powerful force and the people are always standing by the IRGC."
"Is it the IRGC that is corrupt or governments and armed forces who have always intervened in this region against the independence of nations?"
Trump also announced sanctions on the IRGC, which he accused of destabilizing the Middle East and threatening American interests in the region.
Rouhani further questioned the US motives in expressing concern over Iran's missile program, saying the US is providing arms to "aggressive countries" to target innocent people in the region, including in Yemen.
He reiterated that Iran’s missiles are for defense adding that the Islamic Republic, like before, will redouble its efforts to enhance its defense capabilities.
