ROME \u2014 The head of Iran\u2019s nuclear agency warned the United States on Tuesday against undermining the 2015 nuclear deal, saying international nonproliferation efforts as well as Washington\u2019s international standing would suffer as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iranian nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi told an international conference on enhancing nuclear safety that Washington\u2019s recent \u201cdelusionary negative postures do not augur well\u201d for keeping the deal intact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said Iran didn\u2019t want to see the deal unravel but that \u201cmuch more is at stake for the entire international community than the national interests of Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. President Donald Trump is set to deliver a speech on Iran this week in which he is expected to decline to certify Iran\u2019s compliance in the landmark 2015 agreement, referring it to Congress, and perhaps targeting the country\u2019s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard with new sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Salehi praised the progress that had been made since the 2015 deal, saying nonproliferation and disarmament efforts had benefited worldwide. He called it \u201csimply too precious to be allowed to be undermined or weakened.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe failure of the nuclear deal will undermine the political credibility and international stature of the U.S. in this tumultuous political environment,\u201d Salhehi warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He concluded that he hoped \u201ccommon sense shall prevail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. administration has faced two 90-day certification deadlines to state whether Iran is meeting the conditions needed to continue enjoying sanctions relief under the deal and has both times backed away from a showdown. But Trump more recently has said he does not expect to certify Iran\u2019s compliance with the October deadline looming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Monday, the European Union\u2019s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, praised the 2015 deal as a \u201cwin-win\u201d solution that was working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe settled a milestone for nonproliferation and we prevented a dangerous devastating military escalation,\u201d she told the conference via video message, adding that the International Atomic Energy Agency had certified Iran\u2019s compliance with the deal, including via inspections, eight times since it was signed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She warned that with rising nuclear tensions on the Korean peninsula, \u201cWe have an interest and a responsibility and a duty to preserve the nuclear deal with Iran\u201d and strengthening, not weakening the nonproliferation regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The head of Iran\u2019s nuclear agency warned the United States on Tuesday against undermining the 2015 nuclear deal, saying international nonproliferation efforts as well as Washington\u2019s international standing would suffer as a result.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":30043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,8,12,25,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1835],"class_list":["post-12667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"TGRH2EAVKRGLNGCQJMFANONKWA","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2017\/10\/10\/iranian-nuclear-chief-warns-us-dont-undermine-nuclear-deal\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n