Iran Focus
London, 8 Dec – The Iranian President has claimed that he will not allow Donald Trump to tear up the nuclear agreement and the Iran would react strongly to any sanctions imposed by the US.
Hassan Rouhani went so far as to call the US an “enemy” who wants to pressurise Iran, following the vote in Congress to extend the Iran Sanctions Act. The act, which allows the US Government to punish US companies who do business with Iran, has been repeatedly extended since it was first passed in 1996.
Rouhani said: “If this is implemented… it would be a blatant and clear breach of the JCPOA (nuclear agreement) and would face a very harsh reaction from us.”
President Barack Obama will sign the extension of the Iranian Sanctions Act into law before the end of December. He does not believe this act violates the nuclear deal that is currently in place.
Rouhani’s comments, made at a memorial service for University of Tehran students who were killed while protesting the visit of then-US Vice President Richard Nixon in 1953, indicate that the supposed moderate is under pressure from hardliners within Iran.
Of course, in his three-year reign Rouhani has been anything but a moderate. Since 2013 Iran has:
• executed 3,000 people for mostly minor crimes
• propped up the dictatorship in Syria against a democratic opposition
• interfered in the affairs of other middle-eastern states
• continually violated the terms of the nuclear deal
• repeatedly taken foreign nationals hostage in exchange for diplomatic favours from the foreign country
Rouhani refused to even mention Trump’s name, referring to him only as “some man … elected in the US”. This could be seen as disrespectful to the president-elect or fear of even speaking his name.
Rouhani said: “Whatever plans he has, it will be revealed later. He may desire to weaken the nuclear deal. He may desire to rip up the deal. Do you suppose we will allow this? Will our nation allow this?”
During his presidential run, Trump called the deal “catastrophic” and vowed to renegotiate it, although he has not yet revealed how.
