Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday that Iran will leave the 2015 nuclear deal that it signed with world powers if its interests are not protected.
“Iran will leave its 2015 nuclear deal with powers if necessary,” Zarif told a news conference broadcast live on state TV, “calling on Europeans to accelerate their efforts to shield Iran’s economy from U.S. sanctions,” Reuters reported.
Zarif also claimed that the United States is isolated and cannot form a military coalition.
“The U.S. cannot form a coalition in areas that it claims to be a superpower such as the military area,” he said, according to the Iranian Tasnim News Agency. “Other countries are embarrassed to have their names on a list next to the U.S.,” he said.
“The era of [the U.S. being] a superpower and bully is over,” he further declared.
Meanwhile, officials in Iran said Sunday that Zarif was sanctioned by the American government after rejecting to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Sen. Rand Paul met with Zarif on July 18, reported Al-Monitor, citing “a non-government expert in contact with the Iranian team.”
