Iranian President Hassan Rouhani accused President Trump of engaging in “psychological warfare” with his decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal and said there is a “short time” for Iran to negotiate with other countries.
Rouhani was responding to the president’s announcement Tuesday that the U.S. will withdraw from the deal and reimpose sanctions against the regime. Some of those sanctions will be reimposed in 90 days, while others will be put in place after 180 days.
The president’s decision drew sharp criticism from Rouhani, who said there is a “short time” for Iran to negotiate with other world powers to preserve the 2015 agreement and vowed the Iranian people will be “more determined” and “more united.”
[FULL REMARKS: Trump’s announcement withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal]
The Iranian president said if negotiations fail, however, Tehran will enrich uranium “more than before” in the coming weeks.
“I have ordered Iran’s atomic organization that whenever it is needed, we will start enriching uranium more than before,” he said.
Rouhani accused the U.S. of reneging on the commitment it made in 2015 when, under the Obama administration, the deal was signed.
“Iran is a country that adheres to its commitments and the U.S. is a country that has never adhered to its commitments,” he said. “Our history in the past 40 years … has told us and has indicated that the Americans, speaking of their approach to the people of the region and the people of Iran, the Americans have always adopted a hostile approach.”
Rouhani said Iran will “not allow Trump to triumph in exerting economic pressure on the Iranian people.”
Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Iran deal marks the fulfillment of a promise made during the 2016 presidential campaign, when he vowed to either pull the U.S. out of the deal or renegotiate the agreement. The president has called the Iran deal “embarrassing” and the “worst deal ever negotiated.”
U.S. officials in January began working alongside their European counterparts to make changes to the accord in an effort to satisfy Trump’s concerns and prevent the U.S. from withdrawing. But Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently told French, German, and British officials the negotiated changes wouldn’t change the president’s mind regarding U.S. involvement in the deal, according to a report.
Trump’s main issue was the nuclear deal’s “sunset clauses,” which allow for Iran to progressively ramp up the enrichment of nuclear material.
The president’s announcement Tuesday was met with cheers from Republicans on Capitol Hill, while Democrats warned Trump’s decision could put U.S. national security at risk.
