TEHRAN – Iran said on Tuesday it will not sit passively if Washington fails to honor the nuclear deal, threatening to retaliate for any hostile move.

“It is explicit that Iran will bring them (the Americans) to senses through countermeasures,” said Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani. 

There have been nearly 50 moves by the U.S. legislators to kill the deal ever since it was signed, including to two recent ones, Larijani explained. 

Unlike a rare concerted effort to reach a resolution on Iran’s nuclear program, the improbable election of Donald Trump has apparently ruled out possibilities of closer relationships.  

At risk is the nuclear deal reached between Iran and world powers, including the U.S., of which Trump was critical during his stump speeches. 

He had threatened to pull out of the nuclear pact which he saw weighted toward Tehran though he backed away from his previous rhetoric.

Larijani rejected Trump’s remarks about the deal as “strange” considering Iran’s commitment to the deal. 

Larijani sees irony in remarks by Donald Trump that Iran has violated the nuclear deal because the International Atomic Energy Agency and its chief have confirmed explicitly in 13 occasions that Iran has so far stuck to the nuclear deal. “That Trump claimed Iran had violated BARJAM (JCPOA) is strange,” he regretted, saying international organizations and the global community have ad nauseam hailed commitment shown by Iran. 

“The International Atomic Energy Agency and its director general have confirmed explicitly in 13 occasions that Iran has so far stuck to the nuclear deal,” he reasoned. 

In an October interview with French daily Le Monde, IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano said “I can certify that Tehran respects its commitments to the letter. The Iranians are doing what they promised the international community," Amano said. 

Also in formal reports, the IAEA has verified the full implementation of the deal by the Iranian side. 

Days after the U.S. election, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran has options if the deal fails. 
 
Zarif has not been the only warning voice. 

The European Union has also warned against wiggling out of JCPOA stipulations, saying it is not a unilateral deal to be killed by one single country. 

The outgoing Obama administration which sees the deal a foreign policy legacy is considering new measures in its final months in office to strengthen the landmark nuclear agreement with Iran, the Wall Street Journal quoted senior U.S. officials as saying on Sunday. 
AK/PA