Trump’s talk on nuke deal ‘mainly slogans’: Rouhani

Iran’s president yesterday compared talk of renegotiating its nuclear accord to “converting a shirt back to cotton,” and said US President-elect Donald Trump’s talk of doing so is“mainly slogans.”

Trump has strongly criticized the deal struck with world powers, in which Iran agreed to curb its uranium enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief, but has not said what he plans to do about the agreement. Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani told reporters that “renegotiation has no meaning at all.”

“Mr. Trump has so far made many remarks on the deal,” he added. “These are mainly slogans. I do not see it as likely that something happens in practice.” He said the deal is beneficial to the United States, but that Trump “doesn’t understand this.” The agreement also included Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. None have expressed interest in scrapping the deal or restoring sanctions.

“There will be no negotiations on the nuclear deal,” Rouhani said. “The deal has been finalized and it was approved in the UN Security Council.”

Rouhani, a moderate who has advocated greater openness toward the West, is up for re- election in May, in what will likely be seen as a referendum on the nuclear deal. He said the new administration in Washington would have no impact on the vote.

US President Barack Obama on Monday marked the first anniversary of the nuclear deal with Iran by emphasizing its “significant and concrete results” and warning against undoing a pact supported by the world’s major powers. In language that seemed clearly directed at incoming president Donald Trump, who is set to take office on Friday, Obama said “the United States must remember that this agreement was the result of years of work, and represents an agreement between the world’s major powers-not simply the United States and Iran.”

He said the deal had “achieved significant, concrete results in making the United States and the world a safer place” and “verifiably prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.” Such a diplomatic solution, he added, was “far preferable to an unconstrained Iranian nuclear program or another war in the Middle East.”

Trump has often denounced the nuclear deal, and in a Sunday interview with the Times of London and Bild newspaper of Germany he continued his criticism, saying, “I’m not happy with the Iran deal, I think it’s one of the worst deals ever made.” But he declined to say whether he intended to “renegotiate” the deal, as he asserted regularly during the presidential campaign.

Obama insisted Monday that despite US reservations about other actions by Iran-including its support for “violent proxies” and “terrorist groups”-Tehran was “upholding its commitments, demonstrating the success of diplomacy.” Iran, he said, had “reduced its uranium stockpile by 98 percent and removed two-thirds of its centrifuges.” “There is no question, however, that the challenges we face with Iran would be much worse if Iran were also on the threshold of building a nuclear weapon,” Obama said.

Secretary of State John Kerry, who helped negotiate the deal, said the Iran agreement had “resolved a major nuclear threat without firing a shot or sending a single soldier into combat.” “It was endorsed unanimously by the United Nations Security Council and earned the support of more than 100 countries across the globe,” he added. For all of Trump’s sharp criticizm of Iran and the nuclear deal, the policy he will embrace once in office remains unclear.

One of his top cabinet nominees, retired Marine general James Mattis, said last week that if he is confirmed as defense secretary, he will support the nuclear deal. “When America gives her word,” he told senators during his confirmation hearing, “we have to live up to it and work with our allies.” —Agencies