Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declared that Iran could abandon its nuclear agreement with world powers “within hours” if the United States were to impose any more new-sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Addressing the Iranian parliament live on state television, Rouhani accused US President Donald Trump of ignoring international agreements and breaking his word on the Paris climate accord, as well as other trade deals – trying to depict the United States and its leader as a bad partner and unreliable negotiator. Rouhani declared that “The world has clearly seen that the United States of America under Trump, ignores international agreements and, in addition to undermining the (nuclear deal), has broken its word on the Paris agreement, the Cuba accord, the NAFTA agreement and the TPP…and that the United States is not a good partner or a reliable negotiator,” the Iranian President stressed.
The Islamic Republic of Iran claims that the new sanctions the United States has imposed on it was a clear breach of the nuclear agreement that was signed in 2015 with the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain plus Germany, in which Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear program in return for the lifting of most economic sanctions. The United States, however, imposed unilateral sanctions on the Islamic Republic after it alleged an Iranian breach of the nuclear agreement, termed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, stressing that Iran’s ballistic missile tests violated a UN resolution.
The US allegations pertaining to the Iranian violations are based on resolution 2231, Paragraph 3 of Annex B, which calls upon Iran “not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, (and) including launches using such ballistic missile technology,” for eight years after the adoption date of the nuclear agreement. Since the adoption of the treaty, however, Iran has conducted several ballistic missile tests, which are capable of carrying a nuclear payload; while rejecting any claims of violating the nuclear agreement, considering the wording of the text, which Tehran interprets as an advisory rather than a conclusive demand – thus accusing Washington of violating the agreement with its new sanctions.
