25 September, 2017
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif is ripping the U.S.as "unreliable" in the wake of a report saying the Trump administration is leaning toward decertifying the nuclear deal with Tehran.
Zarif's comments come after President Trump used his debut speech at the U.N. General Assembly last week to slam the deal, calling it an "embarrassment".
"Iran just test-fired a Ballistic Missile capable of reaching Israel".
They also exchanged views on regional and worldwide issues.
He went on to say that under Trump, the U.S. was proving to be "unreliable" in global agreements.
But Zarif brushed off the threat, saying Washington can not act alone to end the agreement.
"This deal is not a bilateral agreement".
"It's not even a multilateral treaty".
His statement alluded to previous remarks made by U.S. President Donald Trump, where prior to meeting Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani back in May, the U.S. head of state said, "One of the things we will discuss is the purchase of lots of attractive military equipment because nobody makes it like the United States".
President Trump in his UNGA address, on September 19 in NY, called the nuclear deal with Iran the worst one-sided agreement the US has ever signed.
Elsewhere in the meeting, Zarif pointed to the crisis in the Korean Peninsula and said, "We reject any production, test and development of nuclear weapons".
But according to diplomats, "non-certification" by Trump would lead to re-imposition of sanctions and the "political death" of the agreement.
On October 15, Trump is due to tell the US Congress whether he is ready to re-certify Iran's compliance with the 2015 deal.
"Iran has a number of options, which include walking away from the deal and going back with greater speed with its nuclear program, which will remain peaceful - but which will not address and accept the limitations that we voluntarily accepted over our nuclear program", he said.
