Iranian President Hasan Rouhani on Wednesday described Donald Trump as a ‘tyrant’ whose era has come to an end, telling President-elect Joe Biden that the ball is now in US’ court to return to the nuclear deal.
A “tyrant’s era has come to an end and today is the final day of his ominous reign. Someone for whom all of his four years bore no fruit other than injustice and corruption and causing problems for his own people and the world”, Rouhani said at a cabinet meeting.
“You see, on Wednesday, the day of the inauguration of the new president, Washington DC has become a military barracks. All these armed forces came to establish the security of this city. This is one of the fruits of Trump’s clumsy work.”
“America’s political isolation is one of Trump’s legacy,” he added.
“The United States was left alone in its policies. Where Trump worked against Palestine, he was left alone. When he left the JCPOA, he was left alone. He was left alone in international organizations,” Rouhani said, referring to the official name of the 2015 nuclear deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action).
“Two years ago, he chaired the Security Council and called on Security Council leaders to condemn the JCPOA, but all Security Council leaders opposed him,” Rouhani added.
Speaking further, the Iranian president said Trump now is dead but the JCPOA is alive, noting that the Islamic Republic will commit to the obligations under the deal if Washington returns to compliance as well.
“The ball is in the US court now. If Washington returns to Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal, we will also fully respect our commitments under the pact,” Rouhani said in a televised cabinet meeting.
Secretary of State Nominee Remarks on JCPOA
Biden’s nominee for secretary of state, Antony Blinken, told a Senate panel that the US would reciprocate in kind to Iran’s resumed compliance with the nuclear deal and would later seek a broader agreement that would also cover the missile program.
The nuclear deal was signed in 2015 by Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union, stipulating the removal of international sanctions from Tehran in exchange for it scaling down its nuclear program.
After the United States withdrew and reinstated sanctions on Iran, the Iranian government began gradually abandoning its own commitments under the deal, specifically with regard to uranium enrichment levels and provision of access to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Source: Agencies
