Iran:

Trump's Announcement on Nuclear Deal "Desperate Attempt"

TEHRAN (defapress)- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif blasted the US president's reluctant announcement on Iran's nuclear sanctions waiver, and called Donald Trump's move as a "desperate attempt" to undermine a "non-negotiable" international deal.

News ID: 68065

Date: 13 January 2018 - 12:43

"Trump's policy and today’s announcement amount to desperate attempts to undermine a solid multilateral agreement, maliciously violating its paragraphs 26, 28 and 29," Zarif wrote on his Twitter page on Friday in reaction to Trump's stance against the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The Iranian foreign minister reiterated that the JCPOA is not renegotiable, and said, "Rather than repeating the tired rhetoric, the US must bring itself into full compliance, just like Iran."

Earlier on Friday, Trump reluctantly agreed not to reimpose nuclear sanctions against Iran for another 120 days, but he cautioned it would be "for the last time."

"Despite my strong inclination, I have not yet withdrawn the United States from the Iran nuclear deal. Instead, I have outlined two possible paths forward: either fix the deal’s disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw," Trump said in a statement.

The US president expressed readiness to work with the US Congress on legislation which he said must incorporate four elements.

According to the statement, the legislation must oblige Iran to allow inspection of all the sites requested by international inspectors, ensure that Iran "never comes close" to possessing a nuclear weapon, have no expiration date and stipulate that long-range missile and nuclear programs are "inseparable" to subject Iran’s development and testing of missiles to "severe sanctions".

Trump noted that, apart from the planned legislation, his administration is engaged with the European signatories to the nuclear deal to "secure a new supplemental agreement" that can never expire and would slap new multilateral sanctions against Iran if Tehran "develops or tests long-range missiles, thwarts inspections, or makes progress toward a nuclear weapon."