TEHRAN – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday any party that walks away from the multilateral 2015 nuclear agreement would be damaging its own reputation, adding the U.S. is angry with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) because it has “humiliated” Daesh.

The remarks by Rouhani comes as President Donald Trump is expected to declare this week the withdrawal of the U.S. from the nuclear agreement, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
 
Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Rouhani said the signatories that choose to honor their sides of the bargain are in fact protecting their own international reputation.

The president said if the U.S. quits the nuclear deal which has been endorsed by the UN Security Council it will be standing “against the world and the United Nations”.

The U.S. is angry over the JCPOA because at a “sensitive time that they wanted to say that Iran is a liar and secretly wants to build nuclear arms, Iran, by attending (nuclear) negotiations, proved that they (Americans) are liars,” Rouhani stated.

He also noted that the number of countries and regimes that support Washington’s hostile stance on the nuclear deal could be counted on the fingers of one hand.

Rouhani says it is becoming “quite clear” which government is “rogue” and which country is “trampling international law”.

On the contrary, he said, “Today, the world backs the path that the Islamic Republic of Iran has chosen and there is no one, even among America’s allies in Europe, who supports destroying the agreement.”

In an indirect reference to U.S. President Donald Trump who is undoing what his predecessor Barack Obama did, Rouhani said, “It is really a shame for a government whose argument is that I oppose any work by the former legitimate government.”

Rouhani added it is becoming “quite clear” which government is “rogue” and which country is “trampling international law”.

He also expressed full support for the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) amid a possible plan by Trump to designate the IRGC as a terrorist group as part of his “new Iran strategy”.

“Through its support for the nations of Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, the Guards has humiliated Daesh and that is why [Americans] are angry,” Rouhani said.

“The Guards has always stood against the terrorists. If you planned to keep the Daesh in the region for 20 years, you are right to be mad at the IRGC,” he said.

The Guards is not only cherished by the Iranian people, it is also loved by the Iraqi people because it has saved Baghdad (from Daesh); it is loved by Iraqi Kurds because it has saved Erbil. It is loved by the people of Damascus and Syria because it has saved Damascus. It is loved by the people of Lebanon because it is defender of the dignity and independence of Lebanon. The Guards has always backed the oppressed and stood against the terrorists.”

The president went on to say that there is no “division between factions in countering plots by the enemies.”

SP/PA