Rouhani warns US, Europe not to take ‘wrong step’

TEHRAN, Jan. 15 (MNA) – President Hassan Rouhani said fomenting insecurity in the Middle East will not benefit any country, calling on the Europeans and the US to refrain from taking a wrong step. “The United States and Europeans should come back to compliance [to the nuclear deal],” Rouhani said during a cabinet session on […]

TEHRAN, Jan. 15 (MNA) – President Hassan Rouhani said fomenting insecurity in the Middle East will not benefit any country, calling on the Europeans and the US to refrain from taking a wrong step.

“The United States and Europeans should come back to compliance [to the nuclear deal],” Rouhani said during a cabinet session on Wednesday, referring to the European Union’s decision to trigger a dispute mechanism under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal – the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

He added, “Europeans say that regarding the Iranian nuclear issue, they have to take a step because Iran has taken the fifth step. The next step you need to take is to return to your commitments. We told you this explicitly, and in recent days I also made it clear to two European leaders that what we have done is reversible for one, and that everything we do regarding the nuclear issue is under the supervision of the IAEA.”

“So, you claim that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons and we will not let that happen. Such talk is baseless and illogical; please do not repeat it,” he said, adding that “we are a country that implements the safeguards and the Additional Protocol, and the Agency’s representatives and inspectors are easily present and their cameras are in our enrichment centers. What does this talk mean?”

“What does Trump do other than breaking agreements and violating international law?” he said, adding, “I don’t know what this Mr Prime Minister in London thinks by suggesting we must abandon the JCPOA and implement Trump’s plan.”

“If you take a wrong step, you will sustain loss; the right move is to come back to the JCPOA,” he stressed.

Referring to the volatile situation the US has sewed in the region, Rouhani said, “This insecurity is intolerable, and anything could happen amid such a situation. The sole way to compensate it is that the regional nations become united and resist the real criminals.”

The president noted that today, the US troops are not secure in the region, and the insecurity may be inflicted upon European soldiers in the future. “Set this security right. We want you to leave the region; not with war, but with ration.”

“This is for your own benefit. Take the path that is good for the region and the world,” Rouhani warned.