Time to End the Iran Deal

Iran says Tillerson firing shows US ‘determined’ to quit nuclear deal
By AGENCIES
14 Mar 2018, 7:02 pm
After hard-line Pompeo appointed, Iranian deputy foreign minister asserts that if Washington bolts accord, Tehran will do same
By Agencies14 Mar 2018, 7:02 pm
Rex Tillerson, outgoing US Secretary of State, makes a statement after his dismissal at the State Department in Washington, DC, March 13, 2018. (AFP/Saul Loeb)
TEHRAN — US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s sacking shows that Washington is set on quitting the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, Iran’s deputy foreign minister said Wednesday.
“The United States is determined to leave the nuclear deal, and changes at the State Department were made with that goal in mind — or at least it was one of the reasons,” Abbas Araghchi said in comments carried by state new agency ISNA.
That was echoed by Ali Khorram, a former Iranian envoy to the United Nations, in the pro-reform daily newspaper Arman.
“Pompeo is very interested in waging a war similar to the Iraq war by citing international regulations,” Khorram wrote of Tillerson’s successor former CIA director Mike Pompeo. “European powers will play a role in balancing his desire.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi, meanwhile, sought to minimize Tillerson’s firing, calling it part of the “frequent and multiple” changes in Trump’s administration.
“What matters to the Islamic Republic of Iran are the policies and approaches of the United States in regard to international issues and toward Iran,” Ghasemi told journalists. “We closely monitor their approaches and macro policies and will take appropriate stances accordingly in the future.”
US President Donald Trump announced Tillerson’s departure in a tweet on Tuesday, saying he would be replaced by Pompeo, who takes a much harder line on Iran than his predecessor.
Trump has repeatedly slammed the 2015 nuclear deal, under which Iran agreed to freeze its nuclear program in return for the lifting of crippling international sanctions.
Despite Tillerson’s determination to stick with the deal, Trump has threatened to scrap what he has dubbed a “terrible” agreement unless tough new restrictions were placed on Iran by May 12.
A US exit could kill the pact between Iran, Germany and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
The deal’s backers have presented it as a victory for diplomacy and nuclear non-proliferation efforts.
Tehran has repeatedly ruled out changing a single comma of the text.
The UN’s nuclear energy agency, the IAEA, confirmed in February that Tehran had met its obligations under the agreement.
“If the US quits the nuclear deal, we will also quit it,” Araghchi said Wednesday. “We have told the Europeans that if they can’t keep the US in the deal, Iran will also leave it.”
His comments contrast with those of Iranian officials including President Hassan Rouhani, who has said Iran will stick with the agreement as long as it is beneficial for the country — even if the United States leaves.
While Iran has reaped massive economic benefits from the accord, notably by being able to resume oil exports, it is still constrained by US sanctions in other areas.