Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani says European countries must resist the United States’ economic terrorism against the Iranian nation and live up to their obligations as per a nuclear deal signed between Tehran and six world powers in 2015.
Rouhani made the remarks in Tehran on Monday afternoon in a meeting with the visiting German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas who had already met with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, earlier in the day.
“We expect Europe to stand up to and resist America’s economic terrorism against the Iranian nation and fulfill its obligations in accordance with the JCPOA (the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action),” Rouhani told Germany’s top diplomat, adding that following the US withdrawal from the deal, Iran could have done the same on the strength of Article 36 of the JCPOA, but rather decided to remain patient and give other signatories a chance.
Germany’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that addressing ways to save the JCPOA, following the unilateral withdrawal of the US from the deal in May last year, was the main goal of Maas’ visit to Iran.
Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.
US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the JCPOA in May 2018 and re-imposed harsh sanctions against the Islamic Republic in defiance of global criticism.