Iran threatens to quit nuclear deal

This article is more than 12 months old

Aug 16, 2017 06:00 am

TEHERAN: Iran could abandon its nuclear deal with world powers "within hours", if the United States continues to impose new sanctions, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said yesterday.

"Those who try to return to the language of threats and sanctions are prisoners of their past delusions," Mr Rouhani said in parliament.

"If America wants to go back to the experience (of imposing sanctions), Iran would certainly return in a short time - not a week or a month but within hours - to conditions more advanced than before the start of negotiations."

He also hit out at US counterpart Donald Trump, saying that Mr Trump had shown that Washington was "not a good partner", not just to Iran but to US allies.

"In recent months, the world has witnessed that the US, in addition to its constant and repetitive breaking of its promises in the JCPOA (nuclear deal), has ignored several other global agreements and shown its allies that the US is neither a good partner nor a reliable negotiating party," he said, highlighting Mr Trump's decisions to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and international trade deals.

Mr Rouhani's comments come with the nuclear deal under mounting pressure after Teheran carried out missile tests and strikes, and Washington imposed new sanctions - with each accusing the other of violating the spirit of the agreement. - AFP