Rouhani Warns of ’Crushing Response’ if US Arms Embargo against Iran Extended

By Staff, Agencies

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that Tehran will deal a ‘crushing response’ if the arms embargo against Iran is extended.

He added that US President Donald Trump had made a stupid mistake by exiting Tehran's 2015 Nuclear Deal.

"If America wants to return to the deal, it should lift all the sanctions on Tehran and compensate for the re-imposition of sanctions ... Iran will give a crushing response if the arms embargo on Tehran is extended," Rouhani said.

Rouhani also said that Trump thought Iran would quit the nuclear deal, but rather blocked his road by continuing to commit to it.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has pledged that Washington will do everything in its power to extend the punitive measures placed on Tehran.

The US has enforced a policy of so-called maximum pressure on Iran since 2018 when the US withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the nuclear deal reached between Iran, Russia, China, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union in 2015.

In 2015, Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA] with China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and the European Union.

The deal required Iran to scale back its nuclear program and severely downgrade its uranium reserves in exchange for sanctions relief, including lifting the arms embargo five years after the deal's adoption.

In 2018, the United States abandoned its conciliatory policy on Iran, withdrawing from the JCPOA and hitting Iranian petroleum industries with sanctions.