Iran’s President Rouhani: “Trump Can’t Overturn the Nuclear Deal”
Iran’s President says there’s “no possibility” that the nuclear deal will be overturned by United States president-elect.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday there was “no possibility” that the nuclear deal with world powers would be overturned by United States president-elect Donald Trump, despite his threat to rip it up.
“Iran’s understanding in the nuclear deal was that the accord was not concluded with one country or government but was approved by a resolution of the UN Security Council and there is no possibility that it can be changed by a single government,” Rouhani was quoted byAFP as having told his cabinet.
Last year’s agreement with world powers saw international sanctions on Iran lifted in exchange for guarantees that it would not pursue a nuclear weapons capability.
During the election campaign, Trump described the deal as “disastrous” and said it would be his “number one priority” to dismantle it.
Iranian officials have repeatedly said, however, that Trump will not be able to overturn the deal.
The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, recently downplayedTrump’s comments and said the nuclear deal will not be in danger even if Trump wins the election.
“I don’t think (the nuclear deal would receive) any serious impact (from Trump). It may go a little bit up and down, it may delay certain things, but it will not seriously detract (from the deal),” he said in September.
Similarly, Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, in June said the nuclear deal can’t be renegotiated despite Trump’s pledge to do so if elected.
In his comments on Wednesday, Rouhani said the United States’ standing in the world had been weakened due to its “wrong policies”.
“The United States no longer has the capacity to create Iranophobia and to create a consensus against Iran,” he said, according to AFP.
“The constructive engagement policies of Iran towards the world, and the fact that international sanctions have been lifted, have placed the Iranian economy on a road where there is no possibility of going backwards,” he added.
Rouhani recently criticized both Trump and his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, though he did not mention them by name and simply said the choice in the election was “between bad and worse”.
