TheCable

Mohammad Javad Zarif, foreign minister of Iran, says his country has other options if the nuclear deal fails.

President Barack Obama struck the deal in July 2015 as a way to pre-empt Iran’s drive to develop atomic weapons by curbing its enrichment of uranium.

Six world powers reached the deal, which made US agree to lift sanctions on Iran.

President-Elect Donald Trump has been very critical of the deal, vowing to pull out of the pact.

But Zarif has advised all parties to stick to the agreements.

“Of course Iran’s options are not limited but our hope and our desire and our preference is for the full implementation of the nuclear agreement, which is not bilateral for one side to be able to scrap,” he said at a news conference in Bratislava.

“Our strong preference as a party that has remained fully committed and implemented its side of the bargain (…) is for every member and participant and for international community to continue to remain committed to the agreement.

“But it doesn’t mean we don’t have other options if the USA unwisely decides to move away from its obligations under the agreement,” he said when asked whether Tehran would start enrichment again if the Trump administration ditched the deal.

When asked whether he hoped for a similarly good working relationship with Trump’s future secretary of state as he had with the outgoing John Kerry, Zarif said it would not be necessary.

“We had a long nuclear negotiation between Iran and the United States. I do not expect another negotiation, certainly not on the nuclear issue, but nor on any other subjects so that I would need to establish a same type of contact with the new secretary of state, whoever that may be,” he said.