Outgoing CIA Director John Brennan has said it would be the “height of folly” for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to tear up the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

“I think it would be the height of folly if the next administration were to tear up that agreement,” he told BBC in an interview aired on Wednesday.

“First of all for one administration to tear up an agreement that a previous administration made would be unprecedented,” he said.

He added, “I think it would be disastrous.”

Iran and the six major powers finalized the text of the JCPOA in July 2015 which took effect in January 2016.

In a speech to a conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in Washington in March Trump claimed that his “number one priority is to dismantle the disastrous deal with Iran”. However, he later backed down from his rhetoric saying it was difficult to violate a deal which has been approved by the UN Security Council.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on November 9 that the JCPOA is a “multilateral agreement” and that she is tasked to guarantee its full implementation.

EU foreign ministers also issued a statement on November 14 reiterating the 28-nation bloc’s “resolute” commitment to the implementation of the nuclear agreement.

NA/PA