Iran threatens to pursue nuclear weapons programme if US quits 2015 deal
Iran warned it's ready to retaliate and pursue its nuclear weapons programme should US President Donald Trump decide to withdraw his country from the deal that brought Tehran's nuclear programme to a halt in 2015.
Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Trump’s threats to restore the sanctions that were lifted in 2015 would send a "dangerous message" that the US wasn’t to be trusted.
Trump had stated on multiple occasions in the past that the deal struck by former president Barack Obama had "disastrous flaws".
Be that as it may, Zariff warned Tehran might restart production of enriched uranium immediately if Washington backed-out of the deal.
French president Emmanuel Macron was expected to advise Trump to stick to the 2015 deal during his visit to Washington that starts on Monday.
He would be followed at the end of the week by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was due to meet Trump on Friday and was also expected to advise Trump not to take any rash decisions.
Trump had set a 12 May deadline for other signatories of the deal to agree to changes, threatening renewed US economic sanctions on Tehran otherwise.
Iran’s announcement came at a critical time, just as North Korean and US officials were due to begin talks on denuclearising the Korean peninsula.
Ahead of those contacts, at the weekend North Korea had announced it would suspend missile launches and shut down a nuclear test site.