Following President Trump’s announcement that the U.S. is pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, some Iranian lawmakers set fire to a paper American flag and chanted “death to America” this week.
During an impromptu demonstration inside Iran’s parliament on Wednesday, Iranian lawmakers also burned a piece of paper that represented the nuclear deal, demonstrating their displeasure with President Trump’s decision.
“Trump’s abandoning of the nuclear deal was a diplomatic show… Iran has no obligation to honor its commitments under the current situation,” parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani said Wednesday, CNN reported. “It is obvious that Trump only understands the language of force.”
The demonstration is a display of the Iranian lawmakers’ anger about Trump’s decision.
As part of the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran limited its enrichment of uranium and reconfigured a heavy-water reactor so that it could no longer produce plutonium. In exchange, Iran gained major economic sanctions relief and could sell oil on the global market.
The deal did not address Iran’s ballistic missile program or its policies in the Middle East.
While serving as President, Trump has expressed his displeasure with the Iran nuclear deal and had set a May 12 deadline to renegotiate the deal, otherwise the U.S. would pull out of it.
“This was a horrible, one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made,” Trump said about the deal on Tuesday. “It didn’t bring calm, it didn’t bring peace, and it never will.”
Iranian lawmakers burn a U.S. flag in parliament in reaction to Trump's decision to pull out of the nuclear deal https://t.co/uRE9HU0jZL pic.twitter.com/ODcTd2GUjK
— Bloomberg (@business) May 9, 2018
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said he is committed to the nuclear deal and said that his country would abide by the agreement as long as other major parties in the agreement commit to benefiting Iran.
The U.K., France, Germany, China, Russia and Iran have committed to the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), despite Trump’s withdrawal.
U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron said in a joint statement that President Trump’s decision to pull out of the deal was a matter of “regret and concern.”
“I have ordered the foreign ministry to negotiate with the European countries, China and Russia in coming weeks,” Rouhani said. “If at the end of this short period we conclude that we can fully benefit from the JCPOA with the cooperation of all countries, the deal would remain.”
Rouhani said Iran was preparing to restart uranium enrichment if the deal collapsed.
As a result of Trump’s decision, Iran is hoping that the European Union will help protect European companies that have interests in Iran and that will be affected by the newly reimposed U.S. sanctions.
