Rohani warns the United States
Iran has warned the United States again this Sunday against the consequences of abandoning the nuclear agreement. In a new live televised speech, President Hasan Rohani has said that his country is prepared whatever the decision, but if Washington does not respect the agreement, they regret it "very soon." Those were the words that marked a new day of tension.
Although it has not been specified what measures Iran would contemplate, the most conservative sectors have agitated the possibility of getting out of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). In any case, the president has repeated that he does not intend to review the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the official name of the agreement reached in 2015. "If (the U.S.) opts to pull out of the nuclear deal, it will soon realize that this decision will become a historic regret for them”, Rohani was quoted as saying by PressTV during a visit to the city of Sabzevar in northwestern Iran.
"Whatever Trump's decision, we are going to resist," he added, referring to the threat of US President Donald Trump of not signing the sanctions exemption (required every six months by US law) if new limitations are not added to the law agreement. The Iranian president has explained that "for months [he has given] the necessary orders", among others, to the Iranian Organization of Atomic Energy, but he has not specified what these instructions consist of. It is risky to dismiss his words as a bravado. The Islamic Republic has a track record of responding to international pressures with comparable measures and if one of the six JCPOA signatories decides to breach it, it may feel entitled to do the same.
The most conservative sectors of the regime, which have always viewed the agreement with suspicion, are pushing for Iran to get out of the NPT, a treaty is aimed at preventing the spread of atomic weapons and Iran is a signatory since its establishment in 1968. The idea, which Tehran already left floating in 2006, four years after its secret nuclear program was discovered, has been reiterated. None other than Ali Akbar Velayati, the veteran International Affairs Adviser to the supreme leader, has assured that such would be the answer if Washington carries out its threat.
Rohani, who represents the moderate sectors, has been more vague, wanting to leave room for dialogue. However, as the May 12 date approaches, which Trump set for the European Union to correct what he calls "failures in the JCPOA ", his tone hardens, partly under pressure from popular disenchantment with the pact. His new warning coincides with an increase in diplomatic activity in the conviction that Trump is determined to charge the JCPOA. After the visits to Washington of the French president, Emanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, now is the secretary of the British Foreign Office, Boris Johnson, who tries to change his mind. Will he listen?
