Iran Supreme Leader: Breaking our nuclear commitments is just getting started

Khamenei said that Iran would continue violating its commitments under the flagging 2015 nuclear accord. 

By World Israel News Staff

Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said on Tuesday that Iran will continue to reduce its commitments under the 2015 nuclear agreement and decried the European signatories as “arrogant” for criticizing Iran when they haven’t fulfilled their commitments under the accord.

According to the Iran news site PressTV, Khamenei criticized the Europeans’ “arrogant” approach to the 2015 nuclear deal.

“When it comes to the issues between us and the Europeans, the source of the lingering problems is their arrogance,” Khamenei stated.

The Iranian leader claimed that the U.K., France and Germany haven’t fulfilled any of their 11 commitments under the accord and that Tehran had complied.

“Now that we have begun reducing our commitments, they move forward,” he said. “You cheeky ones! You have not fulfilled your 11 commitments. [In response,] we have only begun reducing our commitments, and this procedure will definitely go on.”

Khamenei referred to the fact that Iran announced in March that it was going to break a limit set by the accord on the amount of enriched uranium it could hold, a key ingredient in the manufacture of a nuclear bomb. Iran broke the limit in July, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed.

The move was widely seen as an attempt to pressure the Europeans into finding a way around U.S. sanctions against Iran and keep the deal in place. However, the E.U. has struggled to satisfy Iran.

On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron said during a visit to Serbia that new diplomatic momentum in recent weeks has stopped “overreaction by Iranians” and allowed for “a constant dialogue with the Americans.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also on Monday criticized European efforts, comparing attempts to resuscitate the Iran deal to European appeasement of the genocidal Nazi regime during World War II.

Tanker wars

Khamenei also condemned Britain’s seizure of an Iranian supertanker, calling it an act of “piracy” that will not go unanswered.

The U.K. stopped the tanker, which it believed was heading to Syria in violation of E.U. sanctions.

“The wicked Britain commits an act of maritime piracy and steals our ship,” Khamenei said, PressTV reports. “They (the British) perpetrate a crime and make it look legal.”

“The Islamic Republic and faithful elements of the establishment will not leave this wickedness unanswered and will respond to it at an appropriate time and place,” he said.