IRNA reported Zarif as saying in an exclusive interview with the Italian news channel Rai News 24 that Iran has the right to abandon the 2015 nuclear deal given the fact that the US has withdrawn from it, adding “but there is another option, we should see how they will secure our interests.”
Asked about the US demands from Europe, he said that whatever Washington asks Europe to do with Iran is wrong by the very basis.
“If a bullying power is allowed to do everything they want, there will be no end for their bullying,” he said.
In response to the reporter’s question that US President Donald Trump believes that after the new round of sanctions, Iran will be obliged to return to the negotiating table, Zarif said that Trump administration has based its policies on illusion and wrong analyses, but Iran has survived and succeeded.
It's the US that has withdrawn from the nuclear deal, not Iran, Zarif said, noting, “We held negotiations for two and a half years and reached a huge deal, the longest and the most serious negotiations in the contemporary history, which I do not think will ever repeat again.”
Asked what role Italy can play toward the anti-Iran sanctions, Zarif said that Italy is Iran’s biggest trade partner in the EU and it can support the private sector.
Asked why Iran does not leave Syria to alleviate Americans and its allies’ concerns about its regional influence, he said that without Iran’s help, ISIL will find the opportunity to spread across the Middle East.
“They helped Saddam and Taliban. Which countries’ fighter jets are bombing Yemen? Are they Iranian?” he asked.
Americans spent billions of dollars to arm former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and regional states are still paying for their move; they are on the wrong side of the story, Zarif said.
Responding to the question whether President Rouhani can meet Trump, Zarif said why should he do such a thing?
Trump is not a reliable partner, as he quit a deal which took two and a half years to obtain; the next US president might not like the deal with Trump and decide to quit it, too, Zarif said.
MS/PR