Iran will not renegotiate nuclear deal
Iran’s foreign minister said on Thursday that demands by U.S President Donald Trump to change Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers were unacceptable, as a deadline set by U.S. for Europeans to “fix” the deal loomed.
Mohammad Javad Zarif, speaking in English in a Youtube video, said the United States had “consistently violated the nuclear deal, particularly by bullying others to prevent businesses to return to Iran” and that Iran would not renegotiate “what was agreed years ago and has been implemented in good faith”.
President Trump has said that unless European allies fix the “terrible flaws” in the Iran nuclear deal by May 12, he will refuse to extend U.S. sanctions relief for oil-producing Iran.
European signatories of the deal have been trying to persuade Trump to save the pact. They argue that Iran has been abiding by its terms, a position also taken by U.S. intelligence assessments.
Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif said, “Let me make it absolutely clear once and for all: we will neither outsource our security, nor will we renegotiate or add on to a deal we have already implemented in good faith. The U.S. has consistently violated the agreement, especially by bullying others from doing business with Iran. In the coming days, the United States will have to decide whether to finally abide by its obligations.”
President Trump has described the accord, under which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear activities in return for the lifting of economic sanctions, as the worst deal ever negotiated.
