IRAN TO RESUME NUCLEAR ENRICHMENT IF US WALKS AWAY FROM 2015 DEAL

▶ Foreign minister says Tehran will vigorously produce uranium if Trump government abandons deal

Iran warned it is ready to resume nuclear enrichment if the US withdraws from the 2015 nuclear deal, and that other “drastic measures” are under consideration.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in New York on Saturday that Iran was not seeking to acquire a nuclear bomb but its probable response to a US withdrawal would be to restart production of enriched uranium, a key ingredient for such a device.

“America never should have feared Iran producing a nuclear bomb, but we will pursue vigorously our nuclear enrichment,” said Mr Zarif, who was in the US for a UN meeting on sustaining peace.

US President Donald Trump has set a May 12 deadline for the Europeans to “fix” the 2015 agreement that provides curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.

Mr Zarif’s comments marked a further hardening of speech after an earlier warning this month from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that Washington would regret dropping out of the deal, and that Iran would respond within a week if it did.

The fate of the agreement will be a major topic during French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to Washington, starting today, followed by talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the US on Friday.

Mr Zarif said the European leaders must press Mr Trump to stick to the deal if the US “intends to maintain any credibility in the international community”, and to abide by it “rather than demand more”. He said that trying to appease the US president would be futile.

European leaders are hoping to persuade Mr Trump to save the deal if they agree to press Iran to enter into an agreement on missile tests and moderating its regional influence in Yemen, Syria and Lebanon.

Mr Zarif said if the US buried the deal, Iran was unlikely to stick to it alongside the other signatories – Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.

“That’s highly unlikely,” he said. “It is important for Iran to receive the benefits of the

MOHAMMAD JAVAD ZARIF Iranian Foreign Minister, pictured left

agreement and there is no way that Iran would do a one-sided implementation of the agreement.”

European diplomats have argued that the deal could be salvaged without the US, which could later be brought back in the fold, possibly under a new administration. “The United States under the Trump administration has done everything it could to prevent Iran from benefiting from this agreement,” Mr Zarif said.

He declined to specify measures being considered in Tehran, pointing to “what certain members of our parliament are saying about Iran’s options”.

Mr Zarif also left open the possibility of diplomatic action during the 45 days before the US must formally announce its withdrawal. “Whether other things can be done during those 45 days is a hypothetical question that needs to be addressed at that time,” he said.

A decision by Mr Trump to walk away, he warned, would send a message to all governments “that you should never come to an agreement with the United States, because at the end of the day, the operating principle for the United States is, ‘what’s mine is mine, what’s yours is negotiable’”.

America never should have feared Iran producing a nuclear bomb, but we will pursue vigorously our nuclear enrichment