Will restart nuclear program if Europe does not accept Iran’s demands, threatens Supreme Leader Khamenei

Tehran: ‘If Europe does not accept the demands put forward by us then Iran will restart its nuclear program’, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran has issued this direct warning. Only two days ago, Iranian Foreign Minister Jawad Zarif had warned Europe that simply giving lip service to the issue would not be enough. With this direct threat of restarting the nuclear program, Khamenei has indicated that Iran would be adopting a more aggressive stance.

US President Donald Trump announced withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal, two weeks ago. Following this, a lot of activity is being seen at the global level to save the Iranian nuclear deal. European countries, Russia and China are leading the efforts and these countries have expressed severe displeasure over the US decision. The European countries have large-scale financial interests in Iran and therefore, the major countries of Germany and France, are making efforts to save tthem.

The Iranian regime has taken an aggressive stance saying that although the European countries have given assurances, they are not enough and that Iran should be able to reap all the benefits as per the nuclear deal. Khamenei’s demands and threats are part of the same aggressive stance.

‘The European banks should take initiative to safeguard trade with Iran. We don’t want a conflict with the United Kingdom, Germany and France. But at the same time, we don’t trust them. The European countries should also ensure that the crude oil trade from Iran is not affected’, warned Khamenei. He also insisted that the European countries must guarantee that there will be no new negotiations about the Iranian influence in the Middle East and the Iranian nuclear program.

The Supreme Leader threatened that if all these Iranian demands were not met, Iran would restart the Uranium enrichment process under the nuclear program. Khamenei warned that once the 2015 deal is rendered ineffective, we would be free to pursue our nuclear program. He also showered heavy criticism on the Untied States at this time.

Khamenei accused the US saying that right from the time of the Iranian revolution, the United States has always borne a grudge against Iran and has been making efforts to dislodge the government. He also warned that the US President Trump will not have any place in history.

The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo had recently warned that if Iran does not comply with the conditions laid down by the United States and improve its behaviour, it will have to face severe sanctions. Pentagon, the United States defence headquarters, also had warned of a direct military action against Iran.