Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday called upon President Trump to keep the United States a party to the Iran nuclear accord, saying it’s “all or nothing.”
“President Macron is correct in saying there’s no ‘Plan B’ on JCPOA,” Zarif wrote on Twitter, referring to French President Emmanuel Macron and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action signed by the U.S., Iran, France, Russia, China, Germany, the United Kingdom and European Union. “It’s either all or nothing.”
{mosads}“European leaders should encourage President Trump not just to stay in the nuclear deal, but more importantly to begin implementing his part of the bargain in good faith.”
Zarif’s remark comes ahead of a May 12 deadline Trump imposed to either improve the deal or for the U.S. to withdraw from the accord.
Trump has repeatedly criticized the Obama-era nuclear agreement, reached in 2015. Under the accord, Iran received sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.
Zarif said in an interview broadcasted Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that withdrawing from the accord would isolate the United States.
“Everybody has advised the administration that this is not a bilateral agreement between Iran and the United States and withdrawing from it would be seen by the international community as a- an indication that the United States is not a reliable partner,” Zarif said. “Iran has many options and those options are not pleasant.”