Susan Rice, the former national security advisor to former US president, Barack Obama, defended the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran on Saturday and said pulling out of the deal would be "the height of folly" and "incredibly self-destructive".
"The deal is strong, it is working, it serves our interest," she said in Austin. "It makes no sense to cast it aside", the Texas Tribune reported. During an appearance at the Texas Tribune Festival, Rice said pulling out of the deal would isolate the United States and would not make it harder for Iran to get a nuclear weapon.
Tehran said it has no intention to pursue nuclear arms and that its nuclear activities are solely for civilian purposes. This has been confirmed by year-round inspections conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The Iran deal was reached during Rice's time as national security advisor. It was also signed by Germany, China, France, Russia and the United Kingdom.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized it and threatened to pull out, citing issues not linked to the nuclear deal. Trump has been roundly criticized by American experts for being an embarrassment.
Rice was explicit on what throwing out the deal would mean: International inspections of Iran would end, but economic pressure on Iran would not ramp back up since the other countries in the agreement want to stay in the deal.
"The United States would become more isolated by going against the wishes of its allies," she said.
