U.S. president-elect Donald Trump will be “surprised” by Iran if he annuls the nuclear deal between the Islamic Republic, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday, according to the Trend news agency.
“As I said earlier, Trump will be surprised if he tries to renegotiate the deal,” Zarif was quoted as having told the Iranian IRNA news agency.
“We believe that nuclear deal is an international one and we are not worried about it at all,” he continued.
“We are not going to be wary of what Trump does and we will have our options,” Zarif added, noting that the nuclear deal is an international accord and all parties should comply with it.
During his election campaign Trump publicly spoke out against the Iran deal, calling it “disastrous” and vowing to “rip it up” as president.
One of Trump's foreign policy advisers, Walid Phares, recently indicated that while Trump might not actually rip up the agreement, he would act to change it.
Iranian officials, however, have downplayed Trump’s threats to annul the nuclear deal, insisting he cannot do so even if he wishes.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, made clear this week that his country will not renegotiate its nuclear agreement with world powers, even if it faces new sanctions from the U.S. after Trump becomes president.
