FROM EIR DAILY ALERT
Rouhani Maintains Iran Will Remain in Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
May 9, 2018 (EIRNS)—Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, during a television address following President Trump’s announcement that the U.S. would be withdrawing from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, said that Iran would remain in it without the U.S.
“From now on, the Iran nuclear deal will be a deal between Iran and five countries,” he said, reported Tasnim News. “The Group 5+1 has lost one of its parties.” He then announced that he has ordered the Foreign Ministry to start talks with the other five parties to the nuclear deal within the coming weeks. “After these talks,” Rouhani said, “If we conclude that we can achieve the results we expected from the deal, the JCPOA will remain in place regardless of the U.S. decision.” The other five countries are Russia, China, Germany, France, and the U.K.
Earlier in his remarks, Rouhani reported that Tehran has adopted necessary measures to confront new anti-Iran pressures, saying that his U.S. counterpart is launching psychological war and economic pressure on Tehran by announcing withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal.
“Trump is exerting economic pressure on Iran and launching psychological war, but we won’t let him achieve what he wants,” Rouhani said. “Tonight, it was proved that we were right for decades. Iran is a country that remains committed to its promises, and the U.S. is a country that has never lived up to its commitments.”
Nonetheless, he is making clear that Iran will engage in further discussions for a new arrangement.
The leadership of both the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iranian military issued much harder-line statements welcoming Trump’s announcement.
