Think twice before walking out of nuclear deal, Iran cautions US

NEW DELHI: Iran does not believe its nuclear agreement is in jeopardy despite the election of Donald Trump as the next US President.

Addressing a thinktank here on Saturday, Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif said, "We have options, but I don't believe the agreement is in danger." Zarif said it's an agreement not just with the US but the international community.

"It's an agreement that came about after everything else failed. It came about when they found sanctions did not work." The sanctions, he said, hurt Iran economically. But the US too gained little. "Before the sanctions, we had 200 centrifuges. Afterwards, we had 20000. What did the US gain ?" He said if the US goes back to sanctions, Iran would reserve the right to walk out of the joint comprehensive plan of action (JCPOA).

The US president-elect and his national security team have made no secret of their view that Iran is the US's prime enemy. Some of his advisers have even threatened to walk back from the hard fought nuclear deal.

This week, the US senate's decision to extend the Iran Sanctions Act came as a source of dissatisfaction in Tehran. Earlier on Saturday, Zarif told the Iranian state broadcaster that "the extension of sanctions against Iran shows the unreliability of the American government... America is acting against its commitment". Zarif was confident the US would not get international consensus to break the nuclear deal.

Speaking about dealing with international terrorism and radicalisation, Zarif blamed the growth of these forces in West Asia on two factors. First, the US interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, which contributed to the people in these countries feeling powerless and humiliated.

"The interventions removed two of our mortal enemies, Taliban and al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein in Iraq. But it is the logic of occupation which causes extremism," he said. He attributed the second reason to "failure of nations of our region to address fundamental needs of the people". "That failure is deep-rooted in our region. Demagogues use this to motivate the younger generation to take to violence," he said. The anger driving Daesh (IS) and Jabhatal Nusra are against these Arab nations.

Addressing the Syrian question, Zarif said the "time was gone for any single power to resolve the Syrian issue".

Instead of focussing on the future of one individual, Bashar-al Assad, Zarif said it would be better to help create a power-sharing system in Syria.

Zarif will be present at the Heart of Asia conference in Amritsar, where he is expected to make a case for Afghanistan and other nations of the region to use the new Iranian Chabahar port, which is being developed with Indian help.