Iran: We'll resume nuclear activity in 'an hour and a day' if sanctioned
The President of Iran on Tuesday warned Washington Tehran would tear the nuclear agreement apart in “a matter of hours” if new sanctions were issued.
TEHRAN, Iran (Kurdistan 24) – The President of Iran on Tuesday warned Washington Tehran would tear the nuclear agreement apart in “a matter of hours” if new sanctions were issued.
Speaking to the parliament, Hassan Rouhani directly threatened the US that Iran could restart its nuclear program “in an hour and a day” if the former continued its “threats and sanctions.”
In 2015, Iran signed an agreement with the five plus world powers to curb its nuclear program in return for lifting most international sanctions.
“Those who try to return to the language of threats and sanctions are prisoners of their past delusions,” Rouhani said in his televised address.
“If they want to go back to that experience, definitely in a short time – not weeks or months, but on the scale of hours and days – we will return to our previous situation very much stronger,” he declared.
The re-elected cleric said Iran prefers to stick to the deal which according to him is “a model of victory for peace and diplomacy over war and unilateralism.”
But, he warned Iran was ready to walk away from the agreement.
Tensions have been escalating between Tehran and Washington since Iran conducted missile tests and strikes. Each country accuses the other of violating the spirit of the deal.
Rouhani went on to denounce Washington for being bad partners for Iran and other allies.
“In recent months, the world has witnessed that the US, in addition to its constant and repetitive breaking of its promises in the [nuclear deal] has ignored several other global agreements and shown its allies that the US is neither a good partner nor a reliable negotiating party,” he said.
In July, US President Donald Trump and his administration imposed new economic sanctions on Tehran.
The US government said the sanctions targeted 18 entities and people for backing “illicit Iranian actors or transnational criminal activity.”
The Trump administration added the sanctions were enforced over Tehran’s ballistic missile program and its “malign activities” in the Middle East which destabilized any “positive contributions” from the 2015 Iran nuclear accord.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany