Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani rejected any hopes of rewriting a nuclear deal with world powers Wednesday, after the leaders of the United States and France called for a new pact covering Tehran’s missile program and regional interventions. “We have an agreement called the JCPOA,” said Rouhani in a fiery speech, using the technical name for the 2015 deal that curbed Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. If the JCPOA stays, it stays in full.”He was responding to statements in Washington by French President Emmanuel Macron and his US counterpart Donald Trump, in which they proposed a new deal with tougher restrictions on Iran. Macron said the new agreement should include a settlement on Syria, where Iran backs President Bashar al-Assad. In Iran, Rouhani responded by ridiculing Trump, saying: “You have no expertise in politics, neither in law, nor in international accords.

Source: Dhaka Tribune April 25, 2018 14:15 UTC