Iran says ready for worst in battle to salvage nuclear deal amid US stand-off

IRANIAN President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday his country was “ready for the worst” in an uphill struggle to salvage its nuclear deal with world powers abandoned by the United States, but that he was sure Tehran would eventually prevail.

Fears of a Middle East war with global repercussions have risen since US President Donald Trump withdrew last year from the 2015 deal and revived a panoply of sanctions meant to push Tehran into wider security concessions.

Iran has retaliated by breaching the deal, resuming uranium enrichment seen in the West as a potential conduit to developing an atomic bomb, but faces severe economic damage under intensified US sanctions designed to strangle its vital oil trade.

“We have a hard battle ahead, but we shall surely win,” Mr Rouhani said on live state television.

“We are not acting on the assumption we will get results through talks and accords,” he said, alluding to European powers trying to salvage the deal that reined in Iran’s disputed nuclear advances but unable to protect from US sanctions the trade benefits that Tehran was promised in return.

“Instead we are planning based on the assumption that we will not achieve results. Our budget for this year and next, our ministries are also acting on this basis . . . We are acting and going step-by-step with long-term prudence.”

The downbeat remarks by Mr Rouhani, architect of the landmark 2015 accord and a strong proponent of negotiations, hinted he was losing hope of avoiding a final collapse of the deal, though he left the door open to further contacts with Europe.

After several attacks in May and June on oil tankers — blamed by Washington on Tehran, which denied responsibility — Mr Trump has been trying to forge a military coalition to secure Gulf waters, though European allies have been loath to join for fear of provoking open conflict.

Britain, France and Germany have instead appealed for diplomatic moves to defuse the crisis.

But longtime foes Tehran and Washington have taken hard lines and on Wednesday the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. France voiced concern over the US move and said that along with Britain and Germany it disagreed with the decision.