Al Jazeera News :
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani vowed to continue his efforts to end the country’s isolation as he was sworn in for a second term, a day after US President Donald Trump signed a bill increasing sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
“We will never accept isolation,” Rouhani told a packed audience of Iranian political and military officials in Tehran on Thursday.
“The nuclear deal is a sign of Iran’s goodwill on the international stage,” he said, referring to the 2015 agreement to curb its atomic programme in exchange for an easing of sanctions.
The US agreed the deal with world powers including Russia, Britain, France, China and Germany.
Rouhani, a 68-year-old moderate who has faced fierce criticism from conservatives for his efforts to rebuild ties with the West, issued a call for unity.
“I declare once again that with the election concluded, the time for unity and cooperation has begun,” he said.
“I extend my hand to all those who seek the greatness of the country.”
Trump, who during his election campaign last year called 2015’s nuclear agreement “the worst deal ever”, signed on Wednesday new sanctions into law, along with measures against Russia and North Korea.
The agreement had been negotiated by the administration of Barack Obama, former US president.
Iran had already said it would complain to the body that oversees the deal about the new measures, which were passed in Congress last week in response to an alleged missile development programme and human rights abuses.
An Iranian official said on Tuesday that the new US sanctions break the terms of the nuclear deal.
“In our view the nuclear deal has been violated and we will show an appropriate and proportional reaction to this issue,” Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in an interview with state TV, according to the ISNA news agency.
While Russia has reacted to the sanctions by ejecting US embassy staff, Iran has no diplomatic relations or direct trade links with the US so its retaliation options are limited.
Araqchi said Tehran’s response would be “intelligent”.
“The main goal of America in approving these sanctions against Iran is to destroy the nuclear deal and we will show a very intelligent reaction to this action,” Araqchi said. “We are definitely not going to act in a way that get us entangled in the politics of the American government and Trump.”
The move by Trump is likely to embolden his hardline critics who say the nuclear deal was a form of capitulation.
“If the sanctions are to be implemented, there will problematic times for Iran and for the nuclear deal in general,” Hassan Ahmadian, a professor at the University of Tehran, told Al Jazeera. “Now in Iran, there is a growing debate if these sanctions violate [the nuclear deal] or not.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani vowed to continue his efforts to end the country’s isolation as he was sworn in for a second term, a day after US President Donald Trump signed a bill increasing sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
“We will never accept isolation,” Rouhani told a packed audience of Iranian political and military officials in Tehran on Thursday.
“The nuclear deal is a sign of Iran’s goodwill on the international stage,” he said, referring to the 2015 agreement to curb its atomic programme in exchange for an easing of sanctions.
The US agreed the deal with world powers including Russia, Britain, France, China and Germany.
Rouhani, a 68-year-old moderate who has faced fierce criticism from conservatives for his efforts to rebuild ties with the West, issued a call for unity.
“I declare once again that with the election concluded, the time for unity and cooperation has begun,” he said.
“I extend my hand to all those who seek the greatness of the country.”
Trump, who during his election campaign last year called 2015’s nuclear agreement “the worst deal ever”, signed on Wednesday new sanctions into law, along with measures against Russia and North Korea.
The agreement had been negotiated by the administration of Barack Obama, former US president.
Iran had already said it would complain to the body that oversees the deal about the new measures, which were passed in Congress last week in response to an alleged missile development programme and human rights abuses.
An Iranian official said on Tuesday that the new US sanctions break the terms of the nuclear deal.
“In our view the nuclear deal has been violated and we will show an appropriate and proportional reaction to this issue,” Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in an interview with state TV, according to the ISNA news agency.
While Russia has reacted to the sanctions by ejecting US embassy staff, Iran has no diplomatic relations or direct trade links with the US so its retaliation options are limited.
Araqchi said Tehran’s response would be “intelligent”.
“The main goal of America in approving these sanctions against Iran is to destroy the nuclear deal and we will show a very intelligent reaction to this action,” Araqchi said. “We are definitely not going to act in a way that get us entangled in the politics of the American government and Trump.”
The move by Trump is likely to embolden his hardline critics who say the nuclear deal was a form of capitulation.
“If the sanctions are to be implemented, there will problematic times for Iran and for the nuclear deal in general,” Hassan Ahmadian, a professor at the University of Tehran, told Al Jazeera. “Now in Iran, there is a growing debate if these sanctions violate [the nuclear deal] or not.
