US Speaker Inviting Trouble for Trump

Iran's parliament speaker said United States House Speaker Paul Ryan may be trying to invite trouble for US president-elect Donald Trump by speaking against a multilateral nuclear agreement with the Islamic Republic and thereby risking Tehran's reaction.

Speaking on Tuesday, Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani recounted the numerous statements verifying Iran's commitment to the nuclear deal, including by American officials, and said Ryan's hostile attitude toward the deal in spite of all such verification may be a sign that he harbors ulterior motives, Press TV reported. 

Larijani recalled that the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations, the European Union and various high-level US officials had on dozens of occasions verified Iran's commitment to the deal.

Addressing Ryan, he said "One should ask the speaker of the US House of Representatives whether so many remarks confirming Iran's implementation of its commitments are not enough. Are you unaware of these numerous comments confirming Iran's compliance? That would be regrettable, and seems unlikely. [But,] if you are making such untrue comments [about Iran] with knowledge of all the verification, then one should look into your motives."

Larijani said Ryan, a former rival of Trump in the presidential race, may be seeking to invite trouble for the now-president-elect.

Countermeasures

"Perhaps, Mr. Ryan—who used vulgar words to describe Trump during the recent election in the US—is seeking to create such conditions that put the new US president in serious trouble from the start, because Iran will bring the US back to its senses with countermeasures," he said.

Larijani was referring to the potential steps that Iran would take in case the Trump administration moved to violate or scrap the deal unilaterally.

Known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the nuclear deal was struck in July 2015 between Iran and six major powers, namely the US, Britain, Russia, France and China, plus Germany.

It introduced restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of all nuclear-related sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Ryan has previously accused Iran of trying to obtain nuclear weapons by seizing on what he claims to be the latitude it has been offered as a result of the deal. He has also claimed that the outgoing administration of President Barack Obama has put the Islamic Republic on the path to obtaining atomic weapons by investing in the diplomacy that gave rise to the agreement.

Iran has on numerous occasions made it clear that it does not seek such weapons. It agreed to the JCPOA in part to make that case.

Nevertheless, Trump, a business tycoon for whom the US presidency will be his first elected office, remains likely to harm the deal. During the campaign for the presidency, he threatened to "tear up" the agreement. However, Trump has made no comments on matters related to Iran since November 8, when he won the election.