World must stand up to US violations of international law

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has called on the global community to stand up to Washington’s violations of international agreements and regulations, saying it is especially in the interest of independent nations to unite against US bullying and interventionist policies.

Rouhani made the remarks in meetings on Monday with world leaders on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

In a meeting with his Bolivian counterpart, Evo Morales, Rouhani emphasized the need for both the Iranian and Bolivian nations to put up resistance to American interventionism and unilateralism.

Touching on the US unilateral and illegal withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal, Rouhani said, “The international community must stand firmly against the Americans’ violation of this agreement.”

“Today, the international community, with the exception of a few countries, has adopted a decisive stance on the US move, and we should try to show that those who breach international laws will never have the approval of the world’s public opinion,” he added.

Back in May, President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 Iran deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), despite objections from the other signatories to the accord.

Besides re-imposing the anti-Iran sanctions it had lifted under the accord, the Trump administration has also been seeking to discourage the European firms from doing business with Iran by threatening them with penalties.

Rouhani also touched on Washington’s stepped-up pressure campaign against Iran in an interview with NBC News.

The president said he had no plans to meet Trump during his visit to New York as long as the White House was sticking to its policy of sanctions and threats against the Islamic Republic.

“There is no such program for a meeting,” he said. “Naturally, if someone is keen on having a meeting and holding dialog and creating progress in relationships, they would not use the tool of sanctions and threats [and bring] to bear all of their power against another government and nation. That means that the necessary willpower for resolving outstanding issues is absent.”

After leaving the nuclear deal, the United States re-imposed a first tranche of economic sanctions against Iran in August and is due to re-introduce sanctions on the country’s oil and gas industry as of November 4.

In an effort to cut Iran’s oil exports effectively to zero, Washington has been lobbying its allies to cut their crude imports from the Islamic Republic.