Zarif: Iran Won’t Hold Negotiations with US as ’Rogue’ State
Local Editor
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the US is turning into a "rogue state" by repeatedly violating international law, stressing that Iran will not negotiate with a country that fails to keep its word and moves to sabotage one multilateral agreement after another.
In an article titled "US Foreign Policy in Crisis" published on the Foreign Ministry's Website on Wednesday, Zarif responded to a 12-point list of steep demands recently put forward by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for a "new" deal with Iran after Washington's withdrawal from the existing multilateral nuclear agreement.
"The US withdrawal from some international agreements and undermining others, coupled with efforts to weaken international organizations, are examples of destructive moves so far by the US government, which have unfortunately darkened the outlook for the international order," Zarif wrote.
"Obviously, the continuation of such policies can endanger the stability of the international community, turning the US into a rogue state and an international outlaw," he added.
He argued that the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA], is the third multilateral agreement that the current US administration has withdrawn from, noting that Washington has also significantly harmed multilateralism and the prospects for international diplomacy by jeopardizing several other multilateral deals, including NAFTA, the global trade system, and parts of the United Nations system.
"How can the US government expect to be viewed or treated as a reliable party to another round of serious negotiations following its unilateral and unwarranted withdrawal from an agreement which was the result of hundreds of hours of arduous bilateral and multilateral negotiations, in which the highest ranking US foreign affairs official participated, and which was submitted to the Security Council by the US and adopted unanimously as an international commitment under Article 25 of the Charter?" he questioned.
"Mr. Pompeo has forgotten that it is the US government that needs to prove the credibility of its words and legitimacy of its signature, and not the party that has complied with its international obligations and sticks to its word," Zarif pointed out.
Pompeo said on May 21 that Washington would increase the financial pressure on Iran by imposing the "strongest sanctions in history" on the Islamic Republic if Tehran refuses to change the course of its foreign and domestic policy.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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