Rouhani questions West’s right to change N deal

FE Team | Published: April 25, 2018 21:32:27

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has questioned the legitimacy of efforts by the US and its European allies to change a nuclear deal with his country, reports BBC.
The US and French leaders announced on Tuesday that they were working on a "new deal" that would expand and extend the terms of the 2015 accord.
But Mr Rouhani said they had no "right" to renegotiate a seven-party agreement.
He also dismissed US President Donald Trump as a "tradesman" not qualified to comment on global treaties.
"You don't have any background in politics," he said. "You don't have any background in law. You don't have any background on international treaties."
Mr Trump has said the US will reimpose sanctions on Iran suspended under the deal on May 12 unless Congress and European powers fix its "disastrous flaws".
The five other parties to the accord - France, the UK, Germany, China and Russia - see it as the best way to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and want Mr Trump to continue waiving the sanctions while they try to address his concerns.
Before holding talks with French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House on Tuesday, Mr Trump called the deal "insane" and left it unclear what would happen next month.
He also warned Iranian leaders that they would "have bigger problems than they have ever had before" if they restarted their nuclear programme.
Mr Trump said: "I think we will have a great shot at doing a much bigger maybe deal, maybe not deal. We're going to find out, but we'll know fairly soon."
It was not clear whether Iran would have any say on the agreement being worked on by US and European officials, but its president poured scorn on Mr Macron's proposals in a televised speech in the city of Tabriz on Wednesday.
"Together with a leader of a European country [the Americans] say: 'We want to decide on an agreement reached by seven parties,'" Mr Rouhani said. "For what? With what right?"
Mr Rouhani also dismissed Mr Trump's "empty" threats to punish Iran if it restarted its nuclear programme in response to sanctions being reimposed.
"We will be taking very important steps regarding our nuclear technology," he added. "Our activities will be very different than the past, but will be peaceful."