First VP Blasts Trump for Repetition of “Atomic Bomb” Lies against Iran

“Our enemies have been raising a lie for 20 years that Iran wants to make an atomic bomb. Of course, the IAEA and other bodies have repeatedly visited Iran, extensive talks were held and 6 world powers (the group 5+1) admitted that Iran is not going towards a nuclear bomb,” Jahangiri said in Tehran on Tuesday.

He referred to Trump’s recent remarks that “we are looking for no nuclear weapons” in Iran, stressing that his country was not seeking nuclear weapons, which its supreme leader had banned in an edict and released it as a document at the UN.

“The IAEA visited Iran (several times) and presented 14 reports that Iran has not had any diversion towards nuclear weapons,” Jahangiri said.

He warned the US and its allies that they will certainly regret if they initiate a military conflict with Tehran, adding that Iran’s presence in the region is a source of tranquility and it is better for the Americans to make wise decisions, stop pressures and leave the region secure.

Earlier on Monday, in joint presser in Tokyo after bilateral talks with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump said that the White house was not looking for “regime change” in Iran.

The US President went on saying that he believed “we’ll make a deal” with Iran, adding that Abe had offered to broker a dialogue between the two nations.

“I know that the prime minister and Japan have a very good relationship with Iran so we’ll see what happens,” Trump added.

“The prime minister has already spoken to me about that and I do believe that Iran would like to talk. And if they would like to talk, we would like to talk also,” he said.

With Abe at his side, Trump told reporters at Akasaka Palace that “nobody wants to see terrible things happen, specially me”.

Trump later said, “I’m looking to Iran to say no nuclear weapons,” he said. “Iran has tremendous economic potential …, we’re looking for no nuclear weapons. I’m not looking to hurt Iran at all.”

Back in mid-1990s, Ayatollah Khamenei issued a fatwa against the acquisition, development and use of nuclear weapons. The decree was repetitively announced at public venues and it was again reiterated in an official statement at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna on August 2005.

Based on the Fatwa, Iran pursued dialogue with the international community and Western countries, and after years of negotiations Tehran signed the landmark nuclear deal of 2015, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with five permanent members of the United Nations’ Security Council (UNSC) plus Germany and the European Union.

Then in early May 2018, Trump scrapped the deal, blaming his predecessor Barak Obama for signing “the worst ever deal US involved”.

Following the unilateral pullout of Trump from the nuclear agreement, European sides of the agreement issued a joint statement, reassuring Tehran that they would make up for the losses suffered by Iran.

Tehran waited for a year to see if Europe was serious about delivering on its promises, and on the first anniversary of the US exit from the agreement issued a statement to blame the bloc for coming short to observe its commitments and compensate the damages inflicted by Washington.

Tehran announced on May 08 that its decision to partially suspend its compliance with the JCPOA was in response to the US’ withdrawal and the failure by European signatories to alleviate the damage done by American sanctions.

Following Tehran’s ultimatum to European side of the deal, the White House announced on the very same day that it would levy more sanctions on Iran.

According to a White House statement, an executive order issued by Trump targeted Iran’s revenues from exporting industrial metals from iron, steel, aluminum and copper sectors.

Then Trump intensified its rhetoric of threat against Tehran and the US declared that it will increase its military buildup in the Persian Gulf region for unspecified threats from Iran.

Now, following his last week threatening tweet to put an official end to Iran in case of any move by Tehran, he has softened his voice calling again for negotiating a new deal.