Iran president: Trump won’t be able to harm the nuclear deal
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s president said on Tuesday that his country will not allow incoming U.S. President Donald Trump to “tear up” Iran’s landmark nuclear deal with world powers and also warned Tehran will react to any extension of American sanctions.
The comments by Hassan Rouhani came during a speech at the University of Tehran commemorating the killings of Iranian students protesting a visit by then-U.S. Vice-President Richard Nixon in 1953.
Rouhani’s remarks show the high-wire stakes he faces after Trump’s inauguration in trying to defend the deal struck by his moderate administration. The timing — during an annual remembrance of the students’ killing at the hands of the U.S.-backed Shah Reza Pahlavi’s security forces — also shows the internal challenges he faces from hard-liners already suspicious of America’s intentions.
“The U.S. is our enemy,” Rouhani said. “They want to put pressure on us as much as they can.”