The US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, says the United States will probably get out of the Iran nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on the Islamic republic.

Haley made the remarks on Thursday during her lecture titled, “Confronting Today’s Global Governance Challenges,” at Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina.

She accused Iran of supporting terrorism and violating the terms of the 2015 historic nuclear agreement and went on to say that the Europeans are closing their eyes on this but added that the United States would not do that.

Discussing the background of the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers, Haley said, “Iran was being a destabilizing country that was causing threats and the international community decided that we needed to come together to find a solution.”

“They give them a $100 billion and say, ‘Behave’. They tell them that where they did have a nuclear activity and research (centers) on their military bases and their universities, that they have the right to inspect them,” she said, repeating the lie her boss, President Donald Trump, often tells to Americans.

“But they’ll give them 28 days’ notice. They do all of this and think that if they treat Iran as a good international neighbor, then they’ll act like a good international neighbor.  So we don’t know all things said, the Iran deal, it seems to be they’re following it but they’re yet to check a military installation, they have yet to check a university, they have yet to check those places where we know the activity was going to happen. But let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they are following the deal the way they were supposed to,” she added.

The 100 billion lie

Trump has often denounced the Iran nuclear deal which resulted in the removal of nuclear related international sanctions against the Islamic Republic and Tehran receiving a portion of its own several billions of dollars illegally held by US and European banks.

Trump has falsely claimed that Iran’s assets frozen in overseas banks due to sanctions amounted to around $150 billion, but the actual figure is about one third of this.

The sanctions were imposed based on the unfounded accusation that Iran was pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

“Since taking the $100 billion and the Europeans would agree to this, they have violated a Security Council resolution that bans them from doing any ballistic missile launches, they violated it,” Haley said, parroting another lie of the Trump administration that claims that Iran’s missile program is in breach of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed Tehran’s nuclear deal with the P5+1 states.

Tehran maintains that its missile launches fit into its conventional defense doctrine and has nothing to do with the nuclear agreement signed between Iran and the six world powers.  Iran insists its missile tests do not breach any UN resolutions because they are solely for defense purposes and not designed to carry nuclear warheads.

Haley repeats terrorism accusation, and others  

In her lecture, Haley also accused Iran of sponsoring terrorism, saying Iranians continued to support it. “We see it everywhere, whether it’s in Lebanon, whether it’s in Syria, whether they are in Yemen if you see what they are doing, what’s happening in Gaza, all of that, they are only increasing their presence and moving into more territories.”

“And they are not supposed to be selling arms or selling any sort of equipment to other neighbors. And, we know that they are arming the Houthis in Yemen. So you tell me, ‘Do we stay in a deal where they have taken our money, and continue to violate – and the Secretary General and in the United Nations has a report that has listed all of these violations?’” she asked.

“We can be like the Europeans and close our eyes and say we are not going to look.  Knowing that there is a sunset that ends in ten to fifteen years and we are already three years into it. Are you comfortable with that? Or do we look at another option; the other option is work with the Europeans. Can we fix these things? Can we stop them from doing ballistic missile launches? Can we get them to stop supporting terrorism? Can we get them to quit from giving to the Houthis and selling arms to them?” he said.

“If the Europeans don’t find a way to help us to do this and we are making an honest effort everyday to trying to get these things changed, let’s say, we do get out of this. What changes? We stay true to our values, that we are not going to support an actor that is supporting terrorism,” she said.

“The Europeans stay in the deal. Fine. They can have it. We can put our sanctions back on. Iran is not going to get out of that deal. They want the trade with the Europeans. They want to keep the $100 billion that they have. They are not going to leave, but we don’t have to be a part of it,” Haley stated.

Haley’s anti-Iran rhetoric comes as the longstanding Western dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program was settled after the conclusion of a landmark nuclear agreement in 2015. UN Security Council Resolution 2231 also endorsed the nuclear deal, which went into effect in January 2016.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has also confirmed Iran’s commitment to the terms of the nuclear agreement, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China — plus Germany started implementing the JCPOA on January 16, 2016.

The deal limited parts of Iran’s peaceful nuclear program in exchange for the complete removal of all nuclear sanctions against the country.