A handout picture provided by the office of Iran’s supreme leader on April 30, 2018, shows Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waving to a crowd on Labour Day
HO (Iranian Supreme Leader’s Website/AFP)
The reactions to Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal have been divided
On Wednesday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei slammed US President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal, saying he “made a mistake”.
Khamenei, who has supported the nuclear deal albeit reluctantly, claimed Trump lied in his speech on Tuesday in which he announced that he pulled the United States out of the agreement and reimposed sanctions on Tehran.
“You heard last night that the president of America made some silly and superficial comments. He (Trump) had maybe more than 10 lies in his comments. He threatened the regime and the people, saying you’re doing this and that. Mr. Trump I tell you on behalf of the Iranian people: You’ve made a mistake,” Khamenei said in a statement on his official website.
The Supreme Leader addressed the Iranian government in a televised speech, saying “If you don’t succeed in obtaining a definitive guarantee — and I really doubt that you can — at that moment, we cannot continue like this.”
The reactions to Trump’s decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal have been divided.
Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have all been supportive of Trump, but a long list of countries have spoken out against it, including the remaining signatories to the deal.
Russia’s foreign ministry said Moscow was deeply disappointed by Trump’s move, calling it a blatant violation of international law.
In a statement, the ministry said it was “deeply disappointed by the decision of US President Donald Trump to unilaterally refuse to carry out commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” adding that Washington’s actions were “trampling on the norms of international law.”
France, Germany and Britain said on Tuesday that they were committed to implementing the 2015 Iran nuclear deal despite Trump’s decision to pull out and his threat of sanctions.
The decision on Iran fulfilled one of Trump’s long-standing campaign promises
SAUL LOEB (AFP)
China on Wednesday also voiced regret over Trump’s decision and vowed to “safeguard” the agreement.
“China regrets this decision made by the US,” foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular press briefing.
Geng said China will maintain “normal economic and trade exchanges” with Iran despite Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 accord and reimpose sanctions on Tehran.
“China calls on all relevant parties to assume a responsible attitude” in order “to return at an early date to the right track of implementing the deal,” he said.
-Turkey-
On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined the opposition to Trump, saying the United States will “lose in the end” for withdrawing from the landmark nuclear deal with Iran.
Erdogan told CNN International in an interview to be broadcast in full on Wednesday evening that he feared fresh crises would break out in the region as a result of the move.
“We don’t need new crises in the region,” he said, according to a partial transcript on the CNN website published late Tuesday.
But he said that it was Washington who risked losing as Tehran would fulfill its side of the bargain and stick to the accord.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called snap elections for June 24, bringing the polls forward by a year and a half ADEM ALTAN (AFP/File)
“The US would be the ones to lose,” he said.
“Iran will never compromise on this agreement, and will abide by this agreement to the end… that’s what I think. However, the US will lose in the end.”
Erdogan rebuked Turkey’s NATO ally for ripping up the agreement, which was signed under the administration of his predecessor Barack Obama.
“This is not how the international mechanisms work,” he said.
“International covenants and international conventions cannot be annulled at will. If any document bears your signature, you need to respect that. You need to abide by that,” Erdogan was quoted as saying, reiterating Russia and China’s statements.
Erdogan said even if the US may be able to enjoy windfalls from rising oil prices as a result of the move it would have a negative effect on the world economy.
“Many of the countries, in poverty, will be hit even harder and deeper,” he said.
Turkish-US relations are already strained over US backing for a Kurdish militia in Syria which Ankara says is linked to the outlawed PKK group, as well as the jailing of an American pastor in Turkey.
Ankara also has a sometimes troubled relationship with Tehran, but the two sides have been working closely — along with Russia — over the last year in a bid to bring peace to Syria.
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