Questioning United States President Donald Trump's authority to single-handedly scrap the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear accord - Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani said that the pact belongs to the international community in its entirety and not only to one or two countries.
"The deal is the outcome of two years of intensive multilateral negotiations , overwhelmingly applauded by the international community and endorsed by the security council as a part of Resolution 2231.It belongs to the international community in its entirety, and not only to one or two countries," the Iranian President said while addressing the U.N. General Assembly.
"It would be a great pity if this agreement were to be destroyed by rogue newcomers to the world of politics; the world will have lost a great opportunity. But such unfortunate behaviour will never impede Iran's course of progress and advancement," Rouhani said, an apparent reference to Trump's repeated hints.
"The JCPOA can become a new model for global interaction; interactions based on mutual constructive engagement between all of us. We have opened our doors to engagement and cooperation," Iranian leader said.
A day earlier, U.S. President Trump said that he was poised to tear up the accord, which was negotiated between six world powers and Iran.
On July 14, 2015, the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States), the European Union (EU), and Iran reached a JCPOA to ensure that Iran's nuclear program will be exclusively peaceful.
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He singled out "the new U.S. administration" in saying it would destroy its own credibility by abrogating international agreements. Rouhani said, "Just imagine how the Middle East would look had the JCPOA not been concluded. Imagine that along with civil wars, Takfiri terror, humanitarian nightmares, and complex socio-political crisis in West Asia, that there was a manufactured nuclear crisis. How would we all fare?"
Rouhani at the UN session said, "I declare before you that the Islamic Republic of Iran will not be the first country to violate the agreement ;but it will respond decisively and resolutely to its violation by any party. By violating its international commitments, the new U.S. administration only destroys its own credibility and undermines international confidence in negotiating with it, or accepting its word or promise."
"Moderation is the inclination as well as chosen path of the great Iranian people. Moderation seeks neither isolation nor hegemony; it implies neither indifference , nor intransigence. The path of moderation is the path of peace , but a just and inclusive peace ; not peace for one nation, and war and turmoil for others," Rouhani said.
Rouhani, who won a second presidential term earlier this year, said Iran would not be the first to violate the agreement, but that it would take unspecified steps if others did so.
"We never threaten anyone, but we do not tolerate threats from anyone," he said. "We believe in dialogue based on equal footing and mutual respect."
"Throughout its history, Iran has been the bastion of tolerance for various religions and ethnicities. We are the same people who rescued the Jews dom Babylonian servitude; opened our arms to welcome Armenian Christians in our midst, and created the "Iranian cultural continent" with a unique mix of diverse religions and ethnicities . I represent the same Iran that has historically assisted the oppressed; centuries ago, we supported the rights of the Jewish people and today we insist on the restorations," Rouhani concluded.