According to Reuters, Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani said on Monday that Donald Trump should not pull out of the nuclear deal with his country. Rouhani warned the US President that their response would be much stronger than Trump thinks and that he would regret such a decision.
On May 12, Donald Trump will have a chance to waive the sanctions that were temporarily lifted under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015. Otherwise, they would resume. The leader of the United States believes the European powers are supposed to “fix the terrible flaws” of the deal. Rouhani doesn’t agree with Trump’s decision, and he said in a broadcast: “The new U.S. president – who has big claims and many ups and downs in his words and actions – has been trying for 15 months to break the JCPOA … but the structure of the JCPOA is so strong that it has not been shaken by such quakes.”
He also added: “Iran will not violate the nuclear deal, but if the United States withdraws from the deal, they will surely regret it. Our response will be stronger than what they imagine, and they would see that within a week.”
If the JCPOA is to collapse, it would only allow the Iranian nuclear program to further develop without any control, meaning that it could reach a level more advanced than it was before the deal was signed. Rouhani sent his message on the National Nuclear Technology Day. On this important day for Teheran, he displayed the latest nuclear achievements such as a nuclear battery and centrifuges for the oil industry.
The Iranian president added that nothing would surprise Iran and they were preparing for every possible outcome one of which is the JCPOA without the world-leading USA. If the USA were to break the deal, it would still include China, Russia, and leading European countries, but the deal might collapse entirely.
Meanwhile, countries such as Germany, GB, and France are motivating their EU partners to back new sanctions on Iran in order to persuade Trump to stick with the nuclear deal in return for sanctions relief. The aforementioned sanctions aren’t including the measures lifted under the nuclear deal. What they would do, is hit individuals who are behind Iran’s nuclear weapons program and the country’s support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Rouhani pointed out that their weapons have defensive purpose only. He said: “We will produce any weapons necessary to defend our country in such a volatile region. But we will not use our weapons against our neighbors.”
On a slightly different note, the US dollar jumped from 54,700 rials to 58,000 rials in one day in Teheran, according to the local media. Just for the record, a dollar was 36,000 rials in September last year. In the meantime, Iran’s currency has dropped to a new low due to a concern over imposing the sanctions again should Trump put his words into practice.
Source: reuters.com
