Iran says US cannot cause collapse of nuclear deal

Monitoring Desk

TEHRAN: Iran said on Tuesday U.S. President Donald Trump cannot cause its nuclear deal with six major powers to collapse.

“The nuclear deal will not collapse… Those who hope that Trump will cause its collapse are wrong,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a speech broadcast live on State TV.

In October, Trump declined to certify that Iran was complying with the nuclear agreement reached among Tehran, the United States and other powers in 2015.

His decision triggered a 60-day window for Congress to decide whether to bring back sanctions on Iran.

Congress passed the ball back to Trump by letting the deadline on reimposing sanctions on Iran pass last week. Trump must decide in mid-January if he wants to continue to waive energy sanctions on Iran.

Under the deal, nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran were lifted last year, in return for Tehran curbing its nuclear program.

Iran has said it will stick to the accord as long as the other signatories respect it, but will “shred” the deal if Washington pulls out.

Addressing the First National Conference on Reporting the Progress and Solutions for Removing Obstacles to the Realization of Charter on Citizens’ Rights, he said that ‘Economic tranquility, interaction in foreign policy, Healthcare Reform Plan, access to cyberspace and citizenship rights had been the core of the activities of the government.’

‘I order the Minister of Economy and also the Treasury to immediately publish the amount of budget they allocate to any organ,’ President Rouhani added.