Iran Says it Does not Expect U.S. to Leave Nuclear Deal

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Iran said on Wednesday it did not expect the United States to abandon the Iranian nuclear deal as U.S. officials sent mixed signals on what they plan to do about the international accord.

A collapse of the 2015 deal, which U.S. President Donald Trump has called "an embarrassment" but which is supported by the other major powers that negotiated it with Iran, could upend relations in the Middle East and trigger a regional arms race.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani vowed that his country would not be the first to violate the agreement under which Tehran agreed to restrict its nuclear program in return for the loosening of economic sanctions that had crippled its economy.

"We don't think Trump will walk out of the deal despite (his) rhetoric and propaganda," Rouhani told reporters on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly gathering of world leaders. He also ruled out the idea of renegotiating the pact.

"Either the nuclear deal remains as it is or it will collapse," he added.

Trump, who on Tuesday called the pact "one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into," told reporters he had made up his mind whether to keep the pact but declined to disclose his decision.

Trump must decide by Oct. 15 whether to certify that Iran is complying with the pact, a decision that could sink the deal. If he does not, the U.S. Congress has 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions waived under the accord.

 

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