Iran hints it could remain in nuclear deal despite American withdrawal

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has suggested that his country would remain part of a nuclear deal signed between Iran and world powers, despite a US withdrawal from the pact.

“If the remaining five countries continue to abide by the agreement, Iran will remain in the deal despite the will of America,” Rouhani said in remarks carried by state television.

He described Washington’s exit from the nuclear deal as a “violation of morals,” and stated that Tehran would abide by the agreement as long as it was protected from sanctions.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed between Iran, the US, the United Kingdom, Germany, China, Russia, and France in 2015.

Iran signed the deal promising to halt its nuclear program in return for the lifting of international sanctions.

The other countries in the JCPOA have expressed their readiness to remain in the agreement and work with the US to renegotiate and improve the deal.

Before announcing America’s pull-out from the deal on May 8, President Donald Trump often criticized the agreement and threatened to scrap it unless new, more stringent restrictions were imposed on Iran by May 12.

“I am announcing today [May 8] that the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal,” he stated at the White House.

“It is clear to me that we cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement,” Trump continued. “The Iran deal is defective at its core. If we do nothing, we know exactly what will happen.”

In his White House address, the US President said Iran was a state-sponsor of terrorism, pointing to Iranian involvement in wars across the Middle East, mainly in Syria and Yemen.

Iran also has a significant influence in Iraq through the Shia-dominated Hashd al-Shaabi militias who have been accused of human rights violations across the country.