“That’s a very dangerous message to send to the people of Iran, but also to the people of the world – that you should never come to an agreement with the United States…”
In comments that were clearly intended as a warning to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his regime a day after the North announced an unprecedented freeze of its nuclear program ahead of bilateral talks with the US, Iran’s outspoken Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned that, by pushing to change the Iran deal, the US was sending a dangerous message: Never negotiate with the United States.
Zarif made his comments, which were reported by Reuters and RT, during a brief meeting with reporters in New York, where he’s attending a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. During the meeting, Zarif accused the US of asking for more from Iran, despite not holding up its end of the bargain.
“That’s a very dangerous message to send to the people of Iran, but also to the people of the world – that you should never come to an agreement with the United States because, at the end of the day, the operating principle of the United States is ‘what’s mine is mine, what’s yours is negotiable,'” Zarif said.
The Iranian FM also warned Washington’s allies, France and Germany, who have not yet definitively ruled out the possibility of ‘amending’ the deal, that trying to “appease” US President Donald Trump would be “an exercise in futility.”
President Trump has offered conflicting signals about whether a US withdrawal from the deal is already a forgone conclusion, or whether the US will still push Congress, its European allies and Iran for some “modifications” before the implicit May 12 deadline. Following reports last month that the administration was heavily leaning toward scrapping the deal, Trump has more recently made it clear that the US’s continued support is contingent on three factors: expiring limits on Iran’s nuclear program, Tehran’s ballistic-missile program – which has long angered the US and Israel – as well as the scope of inspections meant to ensure compliance.
