Ayatollah Khamenei slams the Europeans for taking side with US

Tabnak – Despite failing to abide by their commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal after the US withdrawal, the European countries calling on Iran to start new negotiations with the West. After the call was rejected by the Iranian president at the UNGA, Iranian Supreme Leader also expresses his objection to the idea.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says Iran should no longer put its trust in the Europeans as they fulfilled none of their 11 commitments under a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran following Washington's withdrawal. Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks in a meeting with members of the Assembly of Experts in Tehran on Thursday.

The Leader said the Iranian officials who were engaged in negotiations say the Europeans have fulfilled none of their commitments, adding, “This is the strongest reason why we should not trust them in any field.”

“Contrary to their promises, the Europeans remained committed to the American sanctions [against Iran] in practice and took no action” to honor their obligations under the deal, officially named the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Ayatollah Khamenei added.

They also seem to be “unlikely to do anything for the Islamic Republic” in the future, and this is why Iran should pin no hope on the Europeans, the Leader noted.

The remarks come just hours after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s address to the United Nations General Assembly, in which he once again rejected talks with the US under sanctions and pressure. In his speech, Rouhani hit out at the US for inviting Iran to talks while imposing harsh sanctions against the country.

“We cannot believe [the sincerity of] an invitation to negotiation by those who [claim to] have applied the harshest sanctions of history against the dignity and livelihood of our nation, Rouhani said, adding that astonishingly "[committing] crimes and [imposing] pressure on the lives of 83 million Iranians, especially women and children, are welcomed by and have become a source of pride for American government officials … The Iranian nation will never ever forget and forgive these crimes and criminals."

He said that Iran will not accept to sit at the negotiating table with the US while it was under sanctions.

“On behalf of my nation and country, I would like to announce that our response to any negotiation under sanctions is ‘no’. The government and people of Iran have remained steadfast in the face of the harshest sanctions in the past one and a half years, and will never negotiate with an enemy that seeks to force Iran to surrender through using the weapons of poverty, pressure and sanction,” Rouhani said.

Tensions have been running high between Iran and the United States since May 2018, when US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew his country from the nuclear deal, and unleashed the “toughest ever” sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Trump is a stern critic of the deal, which was clinched in 2015 by Iran and six world powers, including the United States, France, Britain, China, Russia, and Germany. Under the agreement, nuclear-related sanctions put in place against Iran were lifted in exchange for curbs on Tehran's nuclear program.