Khamenei hailed European position on nuclear deal

Iran’s top authority Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday Iran would not walk out of the multinational nuclear deal and welcomed backing given by its European signatories.

But he warned that if the United States tore up the deal, “Iran will shred it”, referring to a threat by U.S. President Donald Trump, state TV reported.

A day earlier the Iranian president in an address to the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution in Tehran echoed the same sentiments. President Rouhani said the Iranian nation’s unity and hope on the one hand, and the international community’s support for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and cooperation with Tehran on the other hand would “force the US administration’s political authorities to withdraw and reconsider their policies.”

He also noted that Iran’s economy has become stable and remains calm and unaffected by the foreign pressures.

Iran’s leadership reaffirms its commitment to JCPOA  after US president Donald Trump on Friday said his administration “cannot and will not” certify Iran’s compliance with the JCPOA, the nuclear agreement between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany), to Congress, as he set out a new strategy for dealing with Iran.

He also said that his new strategy begins with imposing tough sanctions on the IRGC, accusing Iran of “proliferation of missiles and weapons that threaten its neighbor’s global trade and freedom of navigation.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also released several posts in his Twitter account saying, “Today, Iranians–boys, girls, men, women–are ALL IRGC; standing firm with those who defend us & the region against aggression & terror.”