JEDDAH: A defiant Tehran on Wednesday said there would be no reversal of its controversial nuclear deal with Western powers, as had earlier
been threatened by US President-elect Donald Trump.
As Arab leaders issued statements welcoming the Republican’s victory in the US election, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani challenged Trump by saying there was “no possibility” of the nuclear deal being annulled.
“The US no longer has the capacity to create Iranophobia and to create a consensus against Iran,” Rouhani told his Cabinet, according to state television.
“Iran’s understanding in the nuclear deal was that the accord was not concluded with one country or government but was approved by a resolution of the UN Security Council and there is no possibility that it can be changed by a single government.”
The agreement saw international sanctions on Iran lifted in exchange for guarantees that it would not pursue a nuclear weapons capability.
But the accord riled many of Iran’s neighbors across the Arabian Gulf, amid heightened tensions with Iran over, in part, its involvement in conflicts in Syria and Yemen.
During his election campaign, Trump described the nuclear deal as “disastrous” and said it would be his “number one priority” to dismantle it.
Many Arab leaders however rushed to welcome Trump’s unexpected victory in the deeply divisive US election.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman wished Trump success in “achieving security and stability in the Middle East and the wider world.”
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi was one of the first to congratulate Trump, saying he hoped his presidency would unleash a new era of closer ties with Washington.
“The Egyptian Arab Republic is looking forward to the period of Donald Trump’s presidency to imbue new spirit into the path of Egyptian-American ties with more cooperation and coordination in the interests of both the Egyptian and American people,” he said. Yet many others across the world, including many belonging to Muslim groups, voiced concern over Trump’s election victory.
“It is hugely worrying that a man who has called for discrimination against Muslims and other minorities has become the leader of a superpower nation,” said Harun Khan, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Great Britain, in a statement.
Dubai-based political analyst Ali Khedery described Trump’s resounding victory as a “total rejection” of President Barack Obama’s and Hillary Clinton’s political platforms.
Opinion is divided over whether Trump’s statements on the campaign trail will be enacted as policy when in office.
But despite Iran’s insistence that the nuclear agreement remain in place, Khedery said that was by no means a certainty.
“There is a distinct possibility that the deal will be abandoned under a Trump administration,” he said.
“If Clinton had won, the Iran deal would certainly have been reinforced since it was executed and negotiated by a Democratic president along with some very senior members of Clinton’s inner circle who were involved intimately in the negotiations.
“Instead, Trump has stated forcefully and repeatedly that he thought the Iran deal was one of the worst deals that America had ever negotiated. And I think he is absolutely right. As a result, there are a number of things that might happen to undermine the Iran nuclear deal.”
— With agencies
