The US will pay a "high cost” if it
decides to scrap the landmark nuclear deal between Tehran and world
powers, Iran’s president said Monday.
Such a decision "will yield no results for
the United States but at the same time it will generally decrease and
cut away and chip away at international trust placed in the Unites
States of America,” Hassan Rouhani said during an exclusive interview
with CNN.
The Trump administration decided last week
to extend sanctions relief on Iran in line with Washington’s
obligations under the accord for a second time since President Donald
Trump took office. But the administration stressed at the time that the
decision is not indicative of US policy on the Joint Comprehensive Plan
of Action (JCPOA).
Trump has repeatedly cast the agreement as one of the worst deals ever brokered and has threatened to nix it.
He is expected to announce whether he will
keep the US in the 2015 agreement in October when the US would have to
again recertify Iran is in compliance with the international agreement.
Should Trump decide not to recertify
Iran’s compliance, Congress would have 60 days to determine whether to
reimpose US sanctions that were lifted as part of the agreement.
But such a move could isolate Washington.
None of its negotiating partners, which
include close European allies, desire to see the agreement scrapped, and
its curbs on Iran’s nuclear program. And reimposing sanctions would
likely force the US into the awkward position of having to impose
economic penalties on its allies that would be unlikely to impose
sanctions of their own.
Iran is prepared to react should Trump decide to pull the US out of the agreement, Rouhani said.
"Given that Mr. Trump’s actions and
reactions and policies are somewhat unpredictable, we have thought long
and hard about our reactions,” said Rouhani.
