Iran president signals willingness to stay in nuclear deal
President Hassan Rouhani called U.S. withdrawal from accord a 'violation of morals'
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday that Iran would remain committed to the 2015 nuclear deal if its interests were protected, while his foreign minister hoped the pact could be redesigned without Washington as a member.
The U.S. withdrawal from the accord on Tuesday was a "violation of morals," Rouhani said in remarks carried by state television.
"If the remaining five countries continue to abide by the agreement, Iran will remain in the deal despite the will of America," he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump's pullout has upset European allies, cast uncertainty over global oil supplies and raised the risk of conflict in the Middle East.
It has also highlighted divisions among Iran's political elite.
Rouhani made similarly conciliatory comments on Tuesday, and on Saturday, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif began a tour of other signatory nations in an attempt to save the deal.
Zarif said in Beijing on Sunday: "We hope that with this visit to China and other countries we will be able to construct a clear future design for the comprehensive agreement."
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Zarif's tour would improve understanding of Iran's position and help Tehran protect its legitimate interests.
"China is willing to maintain communication and co-ordination with all relevant parties, including Iran, and take an objective, fair and responsible attitude to continue to safeguard the ...agreement," Wang said.
Rouhani has said Iran will stay committed to the deal, which China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany also signed, provided those powers ensured Iran was protected from sanctions.
The three European states have recommitted to the agreement, but senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said on Friday that Europe was not to be trusted.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Sunday France intends to stay in the deal and still believes that it can prevent Tehran acquiring nuclear weapons.
"We think that the fight against nuclear non-proliferation is important and this agreement means that nuclear non-proliferation is possible because Iran will not go all the way to nuclear weapons," Le Drian told reporters in Dublin.
"We are stakeholders in the Vienna agreement and we are going to stay stakeholders," he said.
Pressure from within Iran
On Sunday, the head of the Assembly of Experts, a group of clerics responsible for choosing Iran's supreme leader, said Rouhani should apologize for not having obtained guarantees from world powers for the agreement.
"It is necessary for the president to honestly and openly apologize to the people over the damages caused by the nuclear accord," Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, a top conservative, said in a statement carried by state media.
Today's problem is not U.S. sanctions, it's that some officials look towards outside rather than looking at domestic potential.- Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, Revolutionary Guard
The head of the elite Revolutionary Guards also warned against relying on foreign powers.
"America's exit aims to break the Iranian people's resistance, which is not new ... but today's problem is not U.S. sanctions, it's that some officials look towards outside rather than looking at domestic potential," said Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the Revolutionary Guard, according to the state news agency IRNA.
On Wednesday, Jafari cast doubt on European nations' ability to save the accord.
With the deal opposed by hardliners at home, some analysts say the pragmatic Rouhani may now be a lame duck leader.
U.S. sanctions of European companies 'possible'
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he was hopeful that the United States and Europe could agree on how to deal with Iran, after Trump threatened to sanction European companies that continue doing business there.
Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Pompeo said the United States was not aiming at Europe when it withdrew from the deal.
Enjoyed my discussion with <a href="https://twitter.com/margbrennan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@margbrennan</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FaceTheNation</a>. In days and weeks ahead, we’ll work with E3 to construct a deal that accounts for all of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Iran?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Iran</a>’s malign behavior.
—@SecPompeo"I'm hopeful in the days and weeks ahead we can come up with a deal that really works, that really protects the world from Iranian bad behaviour, not just their nuclear program, but their missiles and their malign behaviour as well," he said
White House National Security Adviser John Bolton said sanctions could be imposed on European companies.
"It's possible. It depends on the conduct of other governments," Bolton said on CNN's State of the Union.