A US push to change the Iran nuclear deal was sending a “very dangerous message” that countries should never negotiate with Washington, Iran’s foreign minister warned as US and North Korean leaders prepare to meet for denuclearization talks.
Speaking to reporters in New York on Saturday, Mohammad Javad Zarif said that for French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel “to try to appease the [US] President [Donald Trump] would be an exercise in futility,” Reuters reported.
Trump will decide by May 12 whether to restore US economic sanctions on Tehran, which would be a severe blow to the 2015 pact between Iran and six major powers. He has pressured European allies to work with Washington to fix the deal.
Macron and Merkel are both due to meet with Trump in Washington this week.
“The United States has not only failed to implement its side (of the deal), but is even asking for more,” said Zarif, who is in New York to attend a UN General Assembly meeting.
“That’s a very dangerous message to send to people of Iran but also to the people of the world--that you should never come to an agreement with the United States because at the end of the day the operating principle of the United States is ‘what’s mine is mine, what’s yours is negotiable,’” he said.
US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said earlier this month that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has “looked at the Iran deal, he’s seen what he can get and he’s seen how he can push through loopholes and we’re not going to let that happen again.”
Under the Iran nuclear deal, Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear program in return for relief from economic sanctions. Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, struck the pact to try to keep Iran from what he claimed was a nuclear weapon Tehran was building, but Trump believes it has “disastrous flaws.”
Tehran has always insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only and that it has no military dimension.
Zarif said if Washington leaves the deal, there were many options being considered by Tehran, including complaining through a dispute mechanism set up by the agreement or simply leaving the deal by restarting its nuclear activities.
“We will make a decision based on our national security interests when the time comes. But whatever that decision will be, it won’t be very pleasant to the United States,” he said.
When asked if Iran could stay in the deal with the remaining parties, Zarif said, “I believe that’s highly unlikely because it is important for Iran to receive the benefits of the agreement and there was no way Iran would do a one-sided implementation of the agreement.”
Zarif said if Tehran resumed its nuclear activities it would not be intended “to get a bomb.”
“America never should have feared Iran producing a nuclear bomb, but we will pursue vigorously our nuclear enrichment. If they want to fear anything it’s up to them,” Zarif said.
***Prisoner Swap Possible
In an interview with "Face the Nation" moderator Margaret Brennan, parts of which were published on Saturday, Zarif denounced American demands for the release of convicted US citizens and Iranian-Americans being held in Tehran, adding that such demands are hampering "genuine dialogue."
"The United States needs to approach this from a position of dealing with another sovereign government," said Zarif, "And if that approach led to change, then the United States would see a difference."
Five Americans are known to have been detained by Iranian authorities, the CBS reports.
Asked about the conditions of the imprisoned Americans, Zarif insisted that their health requirements were being "taken care of."
"Our judiciary is an independent organ. Just what you would say about your courts, and we cannot have an impact on the decisions of our judiciary. But we have been trying to use our influence from a humanitarian perspective. First of all, in order to make sure their health requirements are taken care of as well as to see whether a humanitarian agreement can be reached."
Some family members of the detained have pleaded for the Trump administration to engage the Iranian government directly in securing their release. In 2016, Iran released four Americans in a swap for seven Iranians held in the US. At the time, many Republicans condemned the exchange negotiated by the Obama administration.
After a fiery and insulting speech by Trump at the United Nations in which he said Iran needed to free Americans "unjustly detained," the Iranians declined an offered conversation between the US president and President Hassan Rouhani.
"You do not engage in negotiations by exercising disrespect for a country, for its people, for its government, by openly making claims including this illusion about regime change. Then you do not leave much room for a genuine dialogue," said Zarif.
Pressed by Brennan on whether the Iranians were open to an exchange, like the Obama-era swap, Zarif offered an opening.
"It is a possibility, certainly from a humanitarian perspective, but it requires a change in attitude.”
