Tehran ready for worst in fight to save N-deal
DUBAI, Aug 1, (Agencies): Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday Iranian officials were ready for the worst as they tried to salvage their nuclear deal with world powers, but he was sure they would eventually prevail.
“We have a hard battle ahead, but we shall surely win,” Rouhani said on live television.
Iran faces an uphill battle as US sanctions reimposed after Washington withdrew from the 2015 nuclear accord take a toll on the economy.
Iran and the UAE on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at enhancing border security on the sidelines of the 6th joint coast guard meeting held in Tehran.
According to Fars News Agency, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and a UAE military delegation, which is currently on an official visit to Tehran, signed the deal. The agreement aimed at improving coordination between both countries when urgent decisions would be made regarding security of the border.
Iran accused the United States on Thursday of “childish behaviour” driven by fear after Washington imposed sanctions on its foreign minister, fanning tensions between two foes at loggerheads over Gulf shipping and Iran’s nuclear programme.
Fears of a Middle East war with global repercussions have risen since the United States ditched world powers’ 2015 nuclear deal with Iran last year and revived sanctions on Tehran.
Potential
The Islamic Republic has retaliated by resuming uranium enrichment seen in the West as a potential conduit to developing atomic bombs. Iran denies having any such objective. After several attacks in May and June on oil tankers – blamed by Washington on Tehran, which denied responsibility – US President Donald 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.
European parties to the nuclear pact have called for diplomacy to defuse the crisis, but Tehran and Washington have taken hard lines and on Wednesday the Trump administration slapped sanctions on Iran’s foreign minister – a likely further blow to any chances for troubleshooting dialogue.
“They (Americans) are resorting to childish behavior ... They were claiming every day ‘We want to talk, with no preconditions’ ... and then they sanction (our) foreign minister,” Rouhani said on state television.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, a pivotal player in the nuclear deal who was educated and lived for years in the United States, dismissed the US action and said it would not affect him as he had no property or other interests in America.
“A country which believes it’s powerful and a world superpower is afraid of our foreign minister’s interviews,” Rouhani said, alluding to numerous interviews that Zarif – a fluent English speaker – gave to American media when he visited New York for a United Nations conference in July. “When Dr Zarif gives an interview in New York, ... they (Americans) say Iran’s foreign minister is misleading our public opinion,” Rouhani said. “What happened to your claims of liberty, freedom of expression and democracy?”
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Zarif was being sanctioned because he “implements the reckless agenda of Iran’s Supreme Leader ... (We are) sending a clear message to the Iranian regime that its recent behaviour is completely unacceptable”.