France and the United States propose a new version of the agreement with more restrictive terms. Rouhani attacks Trump: a "merchant" without any experience in international treaties. And he assures: Iran does not want atomics. EU and Kremlin: the agreement "works and must be preserved". UN Secretary-General: Strengthening "non-proliferation" policies.
Teheran (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron "have no right" to question the legitimacy of the nuclear agreement and to renegotiate the terms unilaterally says Iranian leader Hassan Rouhani.
He was responding to the statements that emerged at the end of the recent summit between the presidents of the United States and France in Washington. The Iranian leader called the White House tenant as a "tradesman" not qualified to comment on global treaties. "You don't have any background in politics," he said. "You don't have any background in law. You don't have any background on international treaties."
Rouhani's reaction is due to the fact that the White House would like to reintroduce new sanctions against Iran, and cancel the Iranian nuclear agreement (the JCPO) of 2015. After the meeting between them, US President Trump and French Macron have proposed a new version with more restrictive terms to Tehran, disavowing EU leaders call to “save” it.
According to Macron, a new pact must revolve around four pivotal points: to block every atomic activity of Iran until 2025; make sure that there are no "long-term" activities; stop the development of ballistic missiles; find a "political solution" aimed at the "containment" of Iran in the Middle East.
Rouhani's reply was not long in coming, and focused, first of all, on Tehran's commitment to defense and respect for the JCPO, which was certified on several occasions by international nuclear experts. "We have demonstrated to the world - added the Iranian president - our goodwill. We want to prove to everyone that Iran does not seek to equip itself with weapons of mass destruction ", erasing years of lies of Israel and the United States.
Finally, he defined as "empty" the threats launched by Trump who intends to punish Iran in case of resumption of the nuclear program. "We will be taking very important steps regarding our nuclear technology," he added. "Our activities will be very different than the past, but will be peaceful".
After years of embargo, Western economic sanctions against Iran were eased in 2015 in exchange for a deal over the country’s controversial nuclear programme, a move that was largely welcomed by the international community.
However, the United States – and critics of the deal, especially Israel – have continued to back sanctions against Iran over its ballistic missile programme and its support for armed Shia movements in places like Yemen and Syria.
On 12 January, US President Donald Trump extended the suspension of a series of sanctions against Iran for another 120 days but stressed that it would be "the last time". Any decision to reimpose sanctions would effectively kill the JCPOA. Tehran has in fact repeatedly said that it does not intend to accept additional obligations with respect to those already signed.
European Union Foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini has opposed Trump and Macron’s stance, saying the goal is "to preserve the nuclear deal with Iran. We want to see the full compliance by all to all commitments included in the deal”. At the same time, the EU will continue to closely monitor Iran’s behaviour, and plans to maintain sanctions already in place. Its "full implementation" is "essential" for the security of the Union.