Iran urges Trump to uphold nuclear deal during presidency
During his White House campaign, Trump expressed his opposition to the deal reached during the Obama administration.
By REUTERS, JPOST.COM STAFFUpdated: NOVEMBER 15, 2016 15:18An inflatable mushroom cloud stands among demonstrators during a rally opposing the nuclear deal with Iran in Times Square(photo credit: REUTERS)
BEIRUT - US President-elect Donald Trump should stay committed to the international nuclear deal with Iran, Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency on Wednesday."The United States should fulfil its commitments in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the nuclear deal) as a multilateral international agreement," Zarif was quoted as saying while on a visit to Romania.During his campaign, Trump expressed his opposition to the nuclear deal reached last year between Iran and worlds powers.Trump has called the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, one of the worst deals in history.Will Trump pull US out of the Iran nuclear dealLaying out his campaign's closing argument last Wednesday, Trump advisers wrote that he would “counteract Iran’s ongoing violations of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action regarding Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons and their noncompliance with past and present sanctions as well as the agreements they signed, and implement tough, new sanctions when needed to protect the world and Iran’s neighbors from its continuing nuclear and non-nuclear threats.”In an October address to supporters in Jerusalem, Trump vowed that he would stand up to Iran.“My administration will stand side by side with Israel and Jewish leaders,” Trump said in the recorded video address. “Together, we will stand up to enemies like Iran bent on destroying Israel and your people. Together, we will make America and Israel safe again.”The United States and Europe lifted sanctions related to Iran's nuclear program when the deal went into effect in January.Over the past four years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has had a fractious relationship with Barack Obama, openly campaigning against the US deal on Iran's nuclear program, including condemning it in a speech to Congress.But ultimately that did not stand in the way of the Obama administration's agreeing a new, $38 billion, 10-year military aid package for Israel. And while the outgoing US president has criticized Israel for building more settlements on land the Palestinians seek for their own state, the censure has never gone beyond words, essentially leaving Israel free to build.