Earlier, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stated that Tehran was ready for any Trump administration decision on the nuclear agreement.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Tehran’s “fierce reaction to the violation of the nuclear deal with the major powers will not be pleasant for the US.”
Bahram Qasemi, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said that Tehran is prepared for all scenarios when Trump decides whether to renew sanctions waivers on May 12. He added that there has been no new agreement between Iran and Europe over limiting Tehran’s regional influence.
According to reports, the Iranian president said that the US aims to weaken Tehran’s regional influence and fears Iran’s independence.
“If they want to make sure that we are not after a nuclear bomb, we have said repeatedly that we are not and we will not be… but if they want to weaken Iran and limit its influence whether in the region or globally, Iran will fiercely resist,” Rouhani said in a speech on state television.
READ MORE: UN Chief Warns of ‘Dangerous Times’ Ahead if US Scraps Iran Nuclear Deal
US President Donald Trump has consistently called the Iran deal “horrible.” In January, the president announced that he would never reauthorize the deal, officially known as the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, without substantive structural changes.
On July 14,2015, the European Union and the P5+1 group of countries — China, Germany, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — signed the JCPOA with Tehran. The accord stipulated a gradual lifting of anti-Iranian sanctions in exchange for Tehran curbing its nuclear program and allowing inspections to confirm that the nature of the program is peaceful.
