Iran president: Trump won’t be able to harm the nuclear deal

Speaking from Jerusalem via video feed to the 2016 Saban Forum in Washington, DC, Netanyahu criticized the nuclear agreement reached between six world powers and Iran a year ago and said, “I look forward to speaking to [President-elect Donald Trump] about what to do about this bad deal”.

Rouhani – who never mentioned Trump by name but referred to him as “some man…elected in the U.S.” – suspected Trump may desire to weaken or destroy JCPOA.

But Rouhani is under pressure to sustain economic growth as his hardline opponents, who were against the nuclear agreement, say he has failed to improve living standards as much as hoped after the lifting of sanctions.

During the USA election campaign, Trump criticised the Iran nuclear accord, calling it a “lopsided disgrace” and one of “the worst deals ever negotiated“. The overwhelming Bipartisan Congressional Vote will enable the quick “snapback” of sanctions if Iran violates the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). But U.S. sanctions remain and will expire on December 31 if Obama doesn’t sign the extension into law.

Unlike Liberman, who suggested in his Saban appearance that he was concerned a Trump administration was retreating to “splendid isolation”, Netanyahu said he was not concerned that Trump would diminish the USA role overseas.

Rouhani said he will join the gathering of an experts committee on Wednesday to determine Iran’s response to what he labeled the US violation.

Think others should know about this? The law, first passed by Congress in 1996 and renewed several times since then, allows the U.S.to sanction companies for doing business with Iran.

Rouhani added that Obama is “obliged” to let the sanctions expire and not sign the bill extending the blockade. He may desire to rip up the deal. “Will our nation allow this?” The White House is anxious that the move could undermine moderates in Iran.

Trump harshly criticized the nuclear agreement during his campaign, vowing in March to “dismantle the disastrous deal with Iran“. “To scrap that willy-nilly as it were will have ramifications, and I don’t know if something else can be put in its place to guarantee that Iran will not go that route if the agreement is scrapped”, he said last month at an event at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.

“President-elect Trump deserves the opportunity to assess United States policy toward Iran without your administration imposing or implementing additional measures that could complicate the incoming administration’s ability to develop its policy”, House Speaker Paul Ryan, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce wrote in a letter to Obama.