Iran aims to negotiate with other nations,
As U.S. pulls out, Iran could restart nuclear activities.
Iranian Pres. Hassan Rouhani said he has directed his diplomats to negotiate with European countries, Russia and China about remaining in the nuclear deal despite the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement.
But Rouhani said Iran is ready to start unlimited uranium enrichment if these negotiations do not yield benefits in a couple of weeks.
Iranian officials struck a defiant tone Tuesday as President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran, a move that reimposes harsh economic sanctions and could prompt Iran to restart suspended nuclear activities.
Trump, a longtime critic of the 2015 agreement, announced his decision on the deal from the White House on Tuesday afternoon, abandoning the accord that was signed under President Barack Obama.
“The United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal,” Trump said in a televised speech. He called it “a horrible, onesided deal that should have never, ever been made,” and he asserted that Iran harbors ambitions to build nuclear weapons.
Trump said he would begin reinstating “powerful” U.S. nuclear-related sanctions against Iran. But he offered no specifics on the sanctions to be reimposed.
The decision could trigger renewed U.S. sanctions on Iran’s oil sales and Central Bank, potentially disrupting Iran’s global financial transactions and putting further pressure on its already volatile economy. It also could put European allies in a bind over whether to continue the economic dealmaking they launched with Iran since the accord was implemented in early 2016. The allies have stood firmly behind the accord, which was negotiated between Iran and six world powers: the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.
The allies could also suffer penalties under renewed U.S. sanctions, removing incentives to continue to invest in Iran.
In his speech, Trump also accused Iran of destabilizing the Middle East through its support of militant groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and he charged that Tehran seeks to build “nuclear-capable” ballistic missiles.
“If I allowed this deal to stand, there would soon be a nuclear arms race in the Middle East,” Trump asserted. “We cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement,” he added. “The Iran deal is defective at its core.”
As part of the nuclear deal, Iran pledged never to “seek, develop or acquire any nuclear weapons.” Iran’s supreme religious and political leader has declared nuclear weapons to be un-Islamic, saying that its nuclear program is aimed solely at producing energy and conducting medical research.
Iranian leaders said Tuesday that the country would stand united in the face of any new sanctions or threats from the United States.
Iran “could face some problems” if Trump restores sanctions, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said at a petroleum conference in the capital, Tehran, before Trump announced his decision. “But we will move on.”
Rouhani’s first vice president, Eshaq Jahangiri, said the government has “a plan for managing the country under any circumstances.”
In remarks reported by Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, Jahangiri, a popular reformist, said it would be “naive” to enter into negotiations with the United States again.
The comments underscored a growing debate among political factions in Iran over what to do after the U.S. withdrawal. Some politicians have urged the government to continue to work with Europe to salvage the accord, which lifted key international sanctions in exchange for curbs on Iran’s nuclear program.