Iran, European nations, hit back at Washington’s hostile approach toward the nuclear deal

Tabnak – As the US administration is showing increasingly serious intentions for leaving Iran nuclear deal, Tehran, together with the other parties to the deal persistently underline the importance of keeping it intact. France has become the latest party to express its discontent over Washington’s position.

The French foreign minister has criticized the US for exerting pressure on European countries to change the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, saying Washington knows when an agreement is inked, all parties must honor their end of the bargain.

“There is a basic principle on which we are very firm, it’s the upholding of the (nuclear deal) to the extent it is respected,” Jean-Yves Le Drian said ahead of a meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Paris on Tuesday.

The top French diplomat also noted that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations nuclear watchdog, has verified Iranian compliance with the agreement and thus there was no source of worry.

Elsewhere in his comments, Le Drian questioned why the Trump administration was “kicking the ball back to Congress and the Europeans,” when Russia and China were also parties to the deal.

Meanwhile, Iran itself has rejected the hostile accusations leveled by US Vice President Mike Pence against the Islamic Republic, saying Washington’s stance on the 2015 multilateral nuclear deal exposed its lies about Tehran seeking nuclear weapons.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi highlighted the White House’s confrontational position on the nuclear deal, saying this “accurately and truly exposes the lies the US has for years been selling to other countries and to the world public opinion.”

On the other hand, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said the idea of making revisions to the multilateral 2015 nuclear agreement is brazen, stressing that the suggestion is a mere delusion entertained by US President Donald Trump. 

Shamkhani said Washington's recent attempts to jeopardize the nuclear accord were illegal, adding that there is no possibility of renegotiating the JCPOA under any circumstances.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the senior Iranian official hailed the country’s missile capabilities and said the Islamic Republic would strongly continue to develop its deterrence power to repel foreign threats.

It should be noted that US Vice President Mike Pence told the Israeli parliament on Monday that the nuclear deal with Iran was a “disaster,” and that “the United States of America will no longer certify this ill-conceived agreement.”

Also during a meeting with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem/al-Quds on Tuesday, Pence stressed that “the time has come” for Washington’s desired changes in the deal, adding, “If our allies will not join us, President [Donald] Trump has made clear we will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal immediately.”