Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday his country is committed to the 2015 nuclear deal, even though it’s been abandoned by the United States.
In Switzerland campaigning to save the deal, Rouhani made clear Tehran will stick to the agreements it made in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
“We announce to the world that Iran respects the international regulations including the non-proliferation treaties,” Rouhani said, adding “Iran will continue our cooperation with the international organizations as well as with the IAEA.”
Swiss President Alain Berset said his country will also stick with the Obama-era agreement, which he described as a big diplomatic victory for the world.
U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear agreement — signed by the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China and Germany — in June. He also vowed to slap the highest level of sanctions on Iran to restrict its ability to export crude oil.
The Iranian leader said at Tuesday’s event the United States won’t be able to zero Tehran’s oil exports through diplomatic pressures or sanctions, as the U.S. administration has threatened. Brian Hook, the U.S. State Department’s director of policy planning, said U.S. officials want to get as many countries as possible to cut out importing oil from Iran.
“Our goal is to increase pressure on the Iranian regime by reducing to zero its revenue on crude oil sales,” Hook said. We are working to minimize disruptions to the global market but we are confident there is sufficient global spare oil capacity.
Rouhani said that would be incorrect and unwise for U.S. officials to think Iran won’t be able to export its oil, an opinion shared by Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri.
“U.S. sanctions would not be a straitjacket for Iran as the country would tap various methods to render the embargoes ineffective,” Jahangiri said.
