VIENNA (Dispatches) -- The U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal struck between Iran and major powers is "doomed” to seriously affect peace and security in the Middle East, Iran’s atomic chief said on Monday.
President Donald Trump announced in May that Washington was pulling out of the deal, which lifted sanctions against Tehran in exchange for restrictions on Iran’s nuclear energy program. Many fear the U.S. withdrawal will lead to the deal’s collapse.
"As discerned almost unanimously by the international community, this ominous move is doomed to have serious repercussions for the international and regional peace and security,” the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, told an annual UN nuclear agency meeting.
Some U.S. sanctions lifted under the deal have already been put back in place while others are due to resume in November. European powers have scrambled to protect Iranian oil revenues and shield companies from the U.S. measures to keep them operating in Iran, but many firms have pulled out regardless.
"The international community’s opposition to the U.S. withdrawal ... does not nearly reflect the deep anger at the American unilateralism but also the concerns about the extremely difficult situation in our immediate region with all its pervasive chaos and the existing menace of terrorism,” Salehi said in his speech to the IAEA General Conference.
At the conference, Salehi clashed with the U.S. representative.
In a message delivered by Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Trump told the IAEA delegates that Iran must be "permanently denied” any pathway to developing a nuclear program, a remark that suggested Washington doesn’t want Iran to be able to maintain even the token enrichment capacity allowed under the deal.
"The JCPOA was a flawed deal that failed to address continued Iranian misconduct,” Perry said.  
The International Energy Agency has warned of higher oil prices as Iranian supply losses deepen heading into November. Iranian officials have cautioned their military may restrict passage through the Strait of Hormuz -- the world’s most important oil chokepoint -- if its tankers aren’t allowed access to world markets.
Iran continues to work with Russia and China on upgrading nuclear technologies and installations allowed under the deal, according to Salehi, who said the country will begin to expand its Bushehr atomic power plant from the third quarter of 2019. Salehi told Europe that "now is the time to uphold its commitments” made under the nuclear agreement.
Germany, France and the U.K. are working with the European Commission on special-purpose vehicles that would allow its members to swap goods without financial transactions with Iran.
While following a hard line, Trump has also called for negotiations with Iran. On Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi stressed that Iran does not even think about holding talks with the U.S.
"Given the naïve and uncivilized decision of the current U.S. administration in withdrawing from the JCPAO and also the country’s policies against Iran, we do not even think about negotiating with the U.S. let alone talking about the preconditions,” Qasemi told a press conference.
"This issue is not on our agenda. So, there will be no discussion about the preconditions. As I said, we do not think about talks with the U.S.”
Qasemi also said Iran will not negotiate about its defense capabilities. "Our defense policies are right. These policies are beneficial to the region and we do not hold talks about anything related to defense capabilities,” he said.
In a press conference at the White House on July 30, Trump said he would meet with Iran "anytime they want to” and without "preconditions”. However, hours after Trump’s statements, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared on CNBC to set some conditions.
Back in May, Pompeo had set 12 conditions for talks with Iran, which were dismissed by Tehran.
In remarks on August 13, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said there would be no war between Iran and the U.S. and nor would be any negotiation between the two countries.
Qasemi also said Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will attend the annual UN General Assembly scheduled to be held from 18 September to 5 October.
"The president will depart to the United Nations and this is an opportunity that various meetings could be held on the sidelines of the summit at the presidential and foreign ministerial levels,” he stated.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman also said Iran and the remaining parties to the nuclear agreement - Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany - may hold talks at the foreign ministerial level on the sidelines of the UN meeting.
Commenting on the talks between Iran and the Europeans to preserve the JCPOA, he said that the talks are on the right path.
The European Union trio – Germany, France and Britain - are expected to present their package of proposals to Iran before the second round of U.S. sanctions, which includes ban on Iran’s oil export, takes effect in early November.