Iran's Foreign Ministry said it is monitoring how Washington's Iran policy will be affected by US President Donald Trump's recent decision to appoint a more hawkish top diplomat to the State Department and will take a position accordingly.
Under Trump's Tuesday decision, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was sacked to be replaced by CIA chief Mark Pompeo, who is known to advocate a harsh line on Tehran and its nuclear deal with the six major powers.
"We have frequently witnessed changes in the US administration," IRNA quoted Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Bahram Qasemi as saying.
"This is a domestic issue and what matters to us is their approach and policies on international issues and Iran. We will monitor those US policies and will take a stance on them," he told a press briefing on Wednesday.
Trump has railed against the 2015 Iran deal, calling it "disastrous", a view publically echoed by Pompeo.
"I look forward to rolling back this disastrous deal with the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism," Pompeo wrote in November 2016 on his personal Twitter account, which was de-activated once he became head of the CIA, Bloomberg reported. Iran denies western allegations of possible military dimensions to its nuclear activity and that its missile program and regional role are destabilizing.
The US labels Iran-backed resistance forces in the region, including Lebanon' Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas, as terrorist, accusing Tehran of sponsoring terrorism for its backing for such groups.
The landmark nuclear agreement was negotiated under Barack Obama, the previous US president, to swap time-bound nuclear restrictions for the removal of international sanctions on Iran.
Pompeo told CBS's "Face the Nation" as recently as Sunday that he shared Trump's concerns about the temporary nature of the limits set by the deal on Iran's nuclear program. Trump has also expressed other grievances on Iran, part of which are unrelated to the deal, and says they must be addressed if the US is to stay in the accord.
"My critique of the Obama administration's JCPOA commitment was that they left the Iranians with a breakout capacity," Pompeo contended, using the official title of the pact, namely the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Dominant Force
But a Reuters article said despite Pompeo's harsh remarks, it is still unclear how Trump's choice may affect the nuclear deal given that there is only one voice that counts in Trump's administration: his own.
Trump's pick means an Iran hawk who fiercely opposed the action plan as a member of congress will now be in charge of the US diplomacy trying to strengthen, and perhaps save, it.
Former US officials and serving European officials were at a loss to gauge how the switch would affect negotiations between the United States and three European powers—Britain, France and Germany—that are also parties to the agreement.
Some said Washington may take a harder line under Pompeo and the Europeans may be under more pressure to offer concessions, while others suggested his views on the deal have evolved and he may be better placed to influence Trump to keep it.
US, British, French and German officials are due to meet on the deal in Berlin on Thursday.
Trump on Tuesday singled out the Iran nuclear deal as one of the main differences he had with Tillerson.
"I think it's terrible, I guess he thinks it was OK," Trump said. Trump delivered an ultimatum to the European powers on Jan. 12, saying they must agree to "fix the terrible flaws of the Iran nuclear deal" or he would refuse to extend US sanctions relief on Iran that it calls for. US sanctions will resume unless Trump issues fresh "waivers" to suspend them on May 12.
He reiterated his bellicose approach toward the Islamic Republic during his Tuesday speech at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego.
"Everywhere we go in the Middle East, it is Iran, Iran, Iran. Behind every problem is Iran. We are dealing with these in a very serious fashion. One of the worst deals I've ever seen was the Iran deal. $150 billion we gave them for what?" Trump said.
A large cash delivery was made in the final months of Obama's presidency, as part of a US commitment under the JCPOA to unblock and hand over Iranian frozen assets.
Ambiguity
In a Jan. 13 cable, the State Department sketched out a path under which the three European allies would simply commit to try to improve the deal over time in return for Trump keeping the pact alive by renewing sanctions relief in May.
Other European officials and former US officials said Pompeo's rise, if he is confirmed as secretary of state by the Senate, might have a more ambiguous effect on the negotiations and that, in any case, Trump's views are paramount.
While Pompeo was a fierce critic of the deal as a congressman, he tempered his views when testifying before congress in January 2017 to seek confirmation as CIA director. Many of Trump's top national security aides, like Tillerson, have argued that the United States is better off with the Iran nuclear deal than without it.
European diplomats saw some chance Pompeo may have more influence over Trump than Tillerson, who antagonized the US president by reportedly calling him a "moron" and who differed with Trump on Iran and other issues.
