The world awaits Trump’s move on the nuclear deal with Iran, which he said is “catastrophic.”
Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani stated his country will not allow incoming US President Donald Trump to “tear up” the controversial nuclear deal Tehran signed with world powers last year.
“Some man is elected in the US. Whatever plans he has, it will be revealed later. Yes, he may desire many things. He may desire to weaken the nuclear deal. He may desire to rip up the deal. Do you suppose we will allow this?” Rouhani said in a speech at the University of Tehran on Tuesday.
Rouhani said such desires “cannot affect our will.”
The remarks were the latest Iranian leaders’ attempts to address concerns over the future of the deal in the wake of Trump’s election, while threatening to take action if the deal is not carried out to their satisfaction.
On the campaign trail, Trump called the deal “catastrophic” and vowed to renegotiate it.
In the meantime, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he is looking forward to speaking with Donald Trump about the “bad nuclear deal.”
“Israel is committed to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. That has not changed and will not change,” Netanyahu said in a satellite address to the 13th Annual Saban Forum on Sunday.
Netanyahu said he opposes the Iran nuclear deal because “it doesn’t prevent Iran from getting nukes, it paves the way for Iran to get nuclear weapons.”
He also said that Iran is developing a ballistic missile program that could potentially threaten the US.
“The Iranians are developing intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). And for those who forget, Israel and Iran are in the same continent, we’re in the same neighborhood. They’re not developing these ICBMs for us, they’re developing it for you, for America,” he said.
“I look forward to discussing with the new administration how we can continue to work together to strengthen Israel and confront the common threats that face both of us, and also seize common opportunities that have developed because of these common threats,” he said.
By: World Israel News Staff
AP and JNS contributed to this report.