Iran defends nuclear deal, warns Trump to respect it

President Hassan Rouhani

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani insisted Wednesday his country has
complied with the nuclear accord it signed with six world powers, and 
warned “rogue newcomer” Donald Trump that the United States faces
 isolation if he tears it up.

Addressing the UN General Assembly one day after the US president
appeared on the same podium to launch a blistering attack on both Iran
and on the 2015 accord, Rouhani warned the fate of the deal cannot be
decided by “one or two countries.”

“It will be a great pity if this agreement were to be destroyed by rogue
newcomers to the world of politics. The world will have lost a great
opportunity,” Rouhani told the world body.

“By violating its international commitments, the new US administration only
destroys its own credibility and undermines international confidence in
negotiating with it or accepting its word or promise.”

But, outside the assembly chamber, there were signs that America’s
allies — while still opposed to abandoning the accord — may be prepared
to countenance additions to it to appease Trump’s concerns and save the
 agreeent.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron repeated his support of a deal that
 European capitals firmly believe remains the best way to prevent Tehran’s
Islamist regime from developing a nuclear weapon.

But he admitted “we have to add two or three pillars.”

These measures should include “one to better control ballistic missiles
and ballistic activities” and another to prolong the agreement beyond 2025,
when limits on Iran’s nuclear enrichment will start to expire.

A possible third pillar would involve “open discussions with Iran about the
 current situation in the region.”

Macron’s suggestions came in response to the US argument that Iran has
broken the spirit of the nuclear deal by continuing to develop ballistic 
missiles and to fund and
 train “terrorist” groups around the Middle East.

They would also address what US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson calls the
“most glaring flaw” in the deal — the so-called “sunset clauses” that will
allow Iran to resume uranium enrichment in stages after 2025.

It was not clear whether renewed discussion about extending the deal will
 be enough to convince Trump to endorse the accord before he is due to
report to the US Congress on October 15 to certify Iran’s compliance.

Trump told reporters: “I have decided. I’ll let you know what the decision is.”

The parties to the 2015 nuclear deal were to meet later in the day, providing
a venue for a tense first encounter between Iran’s Foreign Minister
 Mohammad Javad Zarif and Tillerson.

The stakes are high. If the US Congress decides to reimpose economic
 sanctions — despite the concerns of fellow deal signatories Britain, China,
France, Germany and Russia — the agreement would likely collapse.

Asked whether Trump would withdraw the United States from the deal, the US
 ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said that was a decision for
the president alone.

But, in an interview with CBS News, she added: “What I can tell you is that
 if he does not certify he certainly has grounds to not do that.”

US allies in Europe, along with many of Trump’s critics in Washington, fear this
 could trigger a new Middle East arms race and diplomatic crisis even as the
world faces an aggressive nuclear-armed Pyongyang.

Assembly delegates are still reeling from Trump’s threat to “totally destroy”
North Korea, and if America is blamed for tanking the Iran deal, Trump may
find it hard to cajole Kim Jong-Un into a diplomatic solution.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogerhini met US Vice President Mike
 Pence late Tuesday and argued that the deal is working and that Iran has been found to 
be living up to its commitments by nuclear watchdog the IAEA.

“Iran is delivering on its commitments,” Mogerhini told Pence, according to
 her office. “It is therefore important that a full and effective implementation of
the deal, in all its parts and by all parties, continues.”

Trump did not hold back in his own General Assembly address on
Tuesday, sending his clearest signal yet that he intends to torpedo the agreement.

“Frankly, that deal is an embarrassment to the United States, and I don’t
 think you’ve heard the last of it — believe me,” he declared.

Several of Trump’s advisors, including Tillerson and Haley, have argued that I
ran’s ballistic missile tests and support for “terrorist” groups around the
 Middle East breaches the “spirit” of the deal.

Rouhani rejected this, condemning what he said was “the ignorant, absurd and
 hateful rhetoric filled with ridiculously baseless allegations that was
uttered before this august body yesterday.”

The IAEA says its inspectors have found Iran in technical compliance with
 the restrictions imposed on its nuclear program, but it is for the deal
 signatories to decide if the accord is broken.