Trump to Rouhani: Be careful,
EU’s Mogherini says White House pledges to fully implement nuclear deal
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE/ WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump said on Friday that President Hassan Rouhani “better be careful” after Rouhani was quoted as saying that anyone who speaks to Iranians with threats would regret it.
Trump was asked in a brief appearance in the press cabin aboard Air Force One about Rouhani’s reported remarks to a rally in Tehran to celebrate the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.
Rouhani was quoted in media reports as saying Iran had shown in the 38 years since the revolution that “it will make anyone who speaks to Iranians with the language of threats regret it.”
“He better be careful,” Trump said.
Trump on February 2 put Iran “on notice” over charges that Tehran violated a nuclear deal with the West by test-firing a ballistic missile, taking an aggressive posture toward Iran that could raise tensions in the region.
Trump made the comments about Rouhani while flying on the presidential jet carrying him and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for a weekend at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago retreat in Palm Beach, Florida.
Meanwhile, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said on Friday she was reassured during meetings with Trump’s administration that it was committed to full implementation of the Iran nuclear deal.
In her first visit to Washington since Trump took power, Mogherini came to present the European Union as a valuable friend to the United States with common priorities.
In a nod to Trump’s preferred style of diplomacy, she said the European Union could adopt a more formal “transactional approach” on some issues to appeal to the new administration.
Mogherini, who met last week with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, Trump’s adviser and son-inlaw Jared Kushner and members of Congress, said her main intention in Washington was to discuss the nuclear accord, which granted Iran sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear program.
Her visit suggests concern among European and other countries, including Russia and China, that the Trump administration may withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal.
There have been increasing concerns since the White House put Iran “on notice” for test-firing a ballistic missile. Days later, Washington tightened sanctions against Iran by imposing measures against 25 individuals and entities for the missile test.
“I was reassured by what I heard in the meetings on the intention to stick to the full implementation of the agreement,” Mogherini told reporters.