TEHRAN – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that the outgoing U.S. president, Donald Trump, who withdrew the U.S. from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in 2018, died while the deal is still alive.

Speaking at a cabinet session, Rouhani pointed to the Trump administration’s efforts to kill the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“Trump died while the JCPOA remained alive. He did everything in his power to destroy the JCPOA. Hardliners of Saudi Arabia and Israel also did the same thing. [But] today the JCPOA is still alive and even more vibrant than yesterday. He’s gone with his bad track record while Iran remained in place with its resistant track record,” Rouhani asserted.

Rouhani addressed the current situation in the U.S. and what Trump has done over the course of his presidency.

“Today, the dark chapter of Trump will be closed forever. This guy, whose ominous administration is reaching the end, has left a legacy of polarizing American society over the past four years. On the inauguration day, Washington D.C. has turned into a garrison town. All these troops came to the city to maintain its security. And this is the outcome of Trump’s naïve and authoritarian works, which polarized American society,” Rouhani stated, adding that Trump’s legacy is the U.S. isolation in the international arena.

“Stupid terrorist”

According to Rouhani, the U.S. was left alone in its anti-JCPOA campaign and when it decided to restore a UN arms embargo against Iran, it incurred a defeat. The Iranian president described Trump as a “stupid terrorist” because he ordered the strike that assassinated the top Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in an American drone strike near Baghdad’s international airport on January 3, 2020.

Underlining the end of Trump’s political life, Rouhani also called on the incoming Biden administration to return to commitments and clear the stains of the past four years.

“The last four years were replete with cruelty and law-breaking. [But] Today, we expect the incoming U.S. administration to return to the rule of law and commit themselves, and if they can, in the next four years, to remove all the black spots of the previous four years,” Rouhani pointed out.

“The ball is in the U.S. court now”

The Iranian president said the new U.S. administration should return to international regulations and resolutions including UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the JCPOA in 2015.

“If they (the Biden administration) sincerely return to law, it’s naturally we will return to our commitments. It became clear for the world and our nation that the policy of maximum pressure and economic terrorism against Iran has failed 100%,” Rouhani stated.

The Iranian president also said the ball is in the U.S. court and that the U.S. needs to return to the JCPOA.

“The ball is in the U.S. court now. If Washington returns to Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal, we will also fully respect our commitments under the deal,” he remarked.

The remarks come after Antony Blinken, Biden’s choice for secretary of state, called for patience before making any decision on the JCPOA. He said on Tuesday Washington would not take a quick decision on whether to rejoin the JCPOA.

SM/PA