Iranian President Hassan Rohani has dismissed criticism from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump about Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers, vowing that Iran will not renegotiate the agreement that came into effect a year ago.
Speaking at a January 17 press conference in Tehran marking the one-year anniversary of the landmark accord coming into effect, Rohani said Trump cannot unilaterally cancel the nuclear deal and that talk of renegotiating it is "meaningless."
Under the accord reached in July 2015 with the United States, France, Germany, Britain, Russia, and China, Tehran agreed to limit its nuclear program to satisfy the six world powers that it is not developing nuclear weapons.
In return, Iran received relief from international sanctions that had been imposed against it over its nuclear program.
Rohani on January 17 said the deal is "good" for the United States. He said Trump "doesn't understand" that and that his criticism is "only empty talk."
"The president-elect has shown he is not happy about the nuclear deal," Rohani said. "I don't think he can do much when he goes to the White House."
Trump, who will be sworn in as the U.S. president on January 20, has called the accord "the worst deal ever negotiated," saying it gives away too much to Iran.
He has threatened to either scrap the treaty or seek a better deal.
Rohani dismissed that criticism as "slogans."
The Iranian president said he is optimistic about the future of the deal.
"There won't be any negotiations. The deal has been agreed upon. It's finished. It has been completed," Rohani told reporters in Tehran.
Copyright (c) 2015. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
