President Rouhani: JCPOA, a ‘Closed Issue’

Date: 22 September 2017 - 21:40

News ID: ۴۴۴۷۹

NEW YORK (Dispatches) -- The international nuclear agreement with Iran is a "closed issue” and cannot be extended or changed in any way, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declared Wednesday, flatly rejecting President Trump’s criticism that the deal is weak and "an embarrassment.”
"This is a building the frame of which, if you take out a single brick, the entire building will collapse,” Rouhani said.
"This issue must be understood by the American officials,” he added. "Either the JCPOA will remain as it is in its entirety or it will cease to exist.”
Rouhani also suggested that if the United States abrogates the terms of the deal, Iran could resume larger-scale uranium-enrichment activities.
"If anyone exits the agreement and breaks their commitment, it means our hand is completely open to take any action that we see as beneficial to our country,” Rouhani said at a news conference after his address to the UN General Assembly.
"The JCPOA has no other conditions,” Rouhani said. "It is the JCPOA in its current form.”
Rouhani also demand an apology from Trump over his insulting remarks against the Iranian nation.
"Mr. Trump was offensive to Iran, and we are waiting for Mr. Trump to apologize to the people of Iran,” Rouhani said through an interpreter.
Rouhani, during a 23-minute address at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, never mentioned Trump by name. Instead he referred to him obliquely, saying it would be a pity if the nuclear deal were undone by "rogue newcomers to the world of politics” and condemning "ignorant, absurd and hateful” remarks.
Rouhani denied that Iran had ever sought to obtain nuclear weapons and said the ballistic missiles it has been testing would be used only for defensive purposes.
In his speech, Rouhani took umbrage at the occupying regime of Israel’s premier Benjamin Netanyahu who called Iran the greatest threat to world peace.
"It is reprehensible that the rogue Zionist regime that threatens regional and global security with its nuclear arsenal and is not committed to any international instrument or safeguard has the audacity to preach to peaceful nations,” he said.
Rouhani said that the time frame and deadlines contained in the deal were all carefully worked out and will not be revisited.
He also said the end of the nuclear deal would be more detrimental to the United States than to Iran.
"By violating its international commitments, the new U.S. administration only destroys its own credibility and undermines international confidence in negotiating with it, or accepting its word or promise,” he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson bemoaned the fact that the U.S.-Iranian relationship has been rocky for four decades now, since the 1979 revolution and the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
"It’s a relationship that’s never had a stable, happy moment in it,” he said. "And I think if we ever get the chance to talk, perhaps that’s where we ought to start talking. Is this going to be the way it is for the rest of our lives and our children’s lives and our grandchildren’s lives? We’ve never had that conversation.”