Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has denounced US President Donald Trump, calling his decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal as “impudent” and “worthless”.
Speaking in the Iranian capital on Wednesday, Khamenei addressed the American president directly, saying: “You cannot lift one finger against us.”
Khamenei said the nuclear issue was “just an excuse” by the US to dominate Iran, and that its “real reason” in signing up to the 2015 agreement is to make it bow to American demands.
Khamenei said that just as Iran does not trust the US, it also does not trust the France, Germany and the UK in keeping the deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The three countries are signatories to the nuclear agreement alongside the US, European Union, Russia, China and Iran.
On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Theresa May, the UK prime minister, issued a joint statement opposing Trump’s decision, and expressing their commitment to the agreement.
But while expressing support for the deal, they also raised concerns about Iran’s ballistic-missile programme “and its destabilising regional activities”, including in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Prior to Trump’s announcement on Tuesday, the three leaders attempted to negotiate a side agreement to satisfy the US president’s demands without, dismantling the original deal.
Iran had shut its door on those additional demands, insisting that all the parties to the deal should first fulfil its commitments, before it would be willing to discuss other outstanding issues.
Meanwhile, Yukiya Amano, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear inspectors, said on Tuesday that Iran continues to abide by its commitment in the deal.
“Iran is subject to the world’s most robust nuclear verification regime under the JCPOA, which is a significant verification gain,” he said.
“As of today, the IAEA can confirm that the nuclear-related commitments are being implemented by Iran.”
There have been at least 10 round of inspections conducted by the IAEA in Iran since the deal was signed in July 2015.