Anguish in Iran as Trump balks at nuclear deal Donald Trump
Donald Trump

Donald Trump

A mix of anger and anguish among the Iranian public has greeted US President Donald Trump’s decision to declare that Iran is not in compliance with the nuclear accord with world powers — a sharp contrast to the euphoria that followed when the deal was signed in 2015.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani promptly responded to Trump’s speech on Friday, calling it “a pile of delusional allegations” and “an insult to the Iranian people”.

Just hours earlier, Trump had disavowed the nuclear deal that lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for Iran giving up the majority of its stockpile of nuclear fuel rods. He said he wanted to impose more restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, and threatened to terminate the deal if the US Congress fails to agree to his plan.

Trump also announced that he would impose more financial sanctions on the entire Iranian Revolutionary Guard, although he stopped short of declaring it a “terrorist” organisation.

In response, Rouhani declared that his country “has not bowed down to any power, and will not do so in the future”, letting slip his irritation by sprinkling his nationally televised speech with more informal Persian words.

Rouhani’s sentiment is widely shared among ordinary citizens, even among those who said that do not regularly follow politics. “Trump is a maniac. His people don’t even like him,” Amir Ali, an engineering student in the city of Qazvin said.

Ahmad Jafari, a native of Esfahan and an art student in Tehran, compared Trump to the former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, an outspoken politician who has been blamed by many Iranians for sinking the country into economic recession during his eight years in office.

“I don’t like Trump and his politics,” he said.

Sadra Mirsharifi, another student, said that he hopes the Europeans will not support Trump’s decision.

“I think Iranians would be very angry if he wants to turn back the boycotts and sanctions,” he said.

Mehdi Mahmoudi, an Iran-based journalist, agreed, saying that Iranians “do not have any confidence in the US under the Trump presidency”.

“Iran has implemented all of its commitments under the nuclear deal, but the US did not keep its promise,” he said.

Under the 2015 deal signed in Vienna between Iran and six world powers – the US, Russia, Germany, France, Britain and China, the leadership in Tehran scaled back the country’s uranium enrichment programme. According to UN inspectors, Iran continues to be in compliance with that condition.

In exchange, sanctions on Iran’s economy were lifted, and Tehran was allowed to resume trading of oil and gas in the international market. A total of $100bn in frozen Iranian assets were also released. Since then, Iran has gradually opened its country to foreign investments and welcomed more foreign visitors, injecting billions of dollars into its ailing economy.

Spontaneous celebrations erupted across the country when the Iran deal was signed in 2015, and when sanctions were lifted in January 2016, with many Iranians expressing hope of a new era of relations with the US and the West. Rouhani, who campaigned on economic and social reforms in 2013, rode on that success to win re-election in May 2017. But since Trump took office in January, a cloud of uncertainty has returned, said Mahmoudi, the Iranian journalist said.

Trump had repeatedly threatened to “tear up” the deal during the 2016 presidential campaign. In recent months, he has ramped up his rhetoric leading to the announcement on Friday.

In his speech announcing his decision, Trump said Iran’s leaders “raided the wealth” of the country.

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