Rouhani says Trump’s attempts to undermine JCPOA have failed

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has stressed that all of US President Donald Trump’s efforts to undermine the nuclear deal have so far failed.

“Every day (Trump) says this deal is the worst in the US’ history. As he put it, it is shameful for America, but still he has not been able to do anything with this agreement,” said Rouhani in a televised speech on Monday.

Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China – plus Germany signed the the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016.

Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limitations on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.

On October 13, Trump refused to formally certify that Iran was complying with the 2015 nuclear deal and warned that he might ultimately terminate the agreement.

While Trump did not pull Washington out of the nuclear deal, he gave the US Congress 60 days to decide whether to reimpose economic sanctions against Tehran that were lifted under the pact. Reimposing sanctions would put the US at odds with other signatories to the accord and the European Union.

Rouhani went on to noted that only a handful of countries, including Israel, have  showed support of Trump’s move while the rest of the world strongly supports it.

The Iranian president also stressed that his country’s arms are meant as a threat deterrent, while noting that no country is permitted to speak out against Iran’s military power.

“Iran’s weapons are like those of the rest of the countries of the world,” he said, adding that the US is not allowed to speak out against Iran’s defense capabilities.

Meanwhile, Iranian Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Es’haq Al-e Habib says the country’s missile program is not open to negotiation and will continue with strength and according to the Islamic Republic’s national defense agenda.

Trump also recently falsely accused the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) of destabilizing the Middle East and threatening American interests in the region. Following Trump’s announcement, the US Treasury added the IRGC to its anti-terrorism sanctions list, claiming in a statement that the elite military force was “providing support to a number of terrorist groups, including Hezbollah and Hamas, as well as to the Taliban.”