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“Trump says he will reach a deal with Iran within a week after he is re-elected. If a deal means a US return to the nuclear agreement, he can do it today by apologizing [to Iran],” Rouhani said at meeting with Iranian media chiefs in Tehran.

But the US, he added, cannot pressure Iran into accepting what it wants. “It they (US officials) seek to impose something, that would be impossible,” he stressed.

The president noted that the US “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran “has failed 100%”.

In 2018, Trump ditched the deal reached by his predecessor Barack Obama in 2015 and reimposed tough sanctions on Iran to force the Islamic Republic to negotiate a new deal.

He told his supporters in New Jersey earlier this month that he would reach a quick deal with Iran if reelected. “We will have a deal within four weeks.”

Iran has said the multilateral agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is not negotiable.

In response to Washington’s pullout, Tehran has rolled back parts of it nuclear activities.

Rouhani also said the next US administration will have to change the current policy on Iran.

“The next US administration, whether it is this government or another, will have to think of a new solution. Because the current way has not worked and they have to change it,” Rouhani said.

Last week the Trump administration acted to reinstate global United Nations sanctions on Iran, including an arms embargo that ends in October under the 2015 nuclear pact.

But 13 of 15 countries on the UN Security Council – including major US allies that were signatories to the nuclear accord – voiced opposition to the US move, arguing that it was void since Washington was using a process agreed under a deal that it had already abandoned.

President Rouhani pointed to the US isolation’s at the Security Council, saying it showed the power of Iran’s diplomacy.

Reuters and The Hill contributed to this story.

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“America is no longer a member of the JCPOA to use this mechanism, and all the parties [to the deal] have already condemned the US effort,” he told a cabinet meeting in Tehran, referring to the nuclear accord by its formal name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Press TV reported.

US President Donald Trump withdrew his country from the JCPOA in May 2018, calling it “the worst deal ever negotiated.” He also reinstated unilateral economic sanctions against Iran after leaving the multilateral agreement in defiance of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2231 that enshrined the nuclear agreement.

Now after more than two years, the Trump administration is seeking to trigger the snapback of sanctions at the UN by claiming that it remains a member of the JCPOA.

The new push comes after the US suffered a humiliating defeat at the UNSC on Friday as its resolution to renew the Iranian arms embargo, which is due to expire on Oct. 18 under the nuclear deal, was overwhelmingly rejected.

Rouhani reminded Washington that the snapback mechanism states that “the parties to the JCPOA or one of them” can use it.

“The world knows what will happen if the United States takes this dead-end path. They themselves have burned the bridge and imagine that there is still a bridge [for them] to cross,” he said.

Rouhani also expressed the government’s resolve to keep standing, with all power, against the US and the countries attempting to oppress the nation.

“If anyone in Iran thinks that this tyrannical government in the White House and the oppressive sanctions are permanent, they are wrong because neither the White House tyrants nor the sanctions are there to stay forever,” he said.

“Sanctions will break and disappear. Through resistance, we made them understand that they have made a mistake and the White House has fully understood that they have made a mistake, but they are helpless on the path they have taken and it has become difficult for them to find a way out.”

“The humiliating defeats of the United States have been brought about thanks to the vigilance of the [Islamic] establishment and the government,” he added.

Rouhani further thanked Russia and China for voting against the US-proposed resolution on the extension of the Iranian arms embargo as well as the remaining 11 council members for abstaining.

Battle at UNSC

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to travel to New York on Thursday to notify the Security Council president that the United States is invoking the “snapback” mechanism in the council’s Resolution 2231.

Just like the arms embargo extension, the administration’s snapback plan is bitterly opposed by China and Russia as well as the other Security Council members, including US allies Britain and France, and could set the stage for a battle over the legitimacy of the UN’s most powerful body, AP wrote.

Alone among the council’s 15 members, the US argues that as an original participant in the nuclear deal it retains the right to demand restoration of sanctions. The others, which still support the deal, maintain the US lost that standing when Trump pulled out of the accord.

The US argument is highly controversial. It has been ridiculed by the Chinese, Russians and Europeans, and not even the biggest Iran hawks in the United States all agree with it.

Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton, no slouch when it comes to anti-Iran positions, has long said that the US lost its snapback standing when it withdrew from the deal and that moving ahead is not worth the damage it could do to US veto power in the council.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif praised Bolton. “At least he is consistent — a trait notably absent in this US administration,” Zarif tweeted.

And, former US undersecretary of state for political affairs Wendy Sherman, a top negotiator of the nuclear agreement under former president Barack Obama, said: “It was never expected that someone who withdrew from the (deal) would have standing to in fact bring the snapback provision.”

Thus, the US administration’s insistence on moving ahead has set the stage for a contentious dispute and the possibility that Washington’s call would simply be ignored by other UN members. That outcome would potentially call into question the Security Council’s ability to enforce its own legally binding decisions.

But whether any other council member will respond to the US move by introducing a resolution to extend sanctions relief is an open question. Some UN experts believe the others will just ignore the Americans, leaving the Trump administration in the possible position of having to introduce its own resolution to extend sanctions relief for the sole purpose of vetoing it.

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“There is an agreement that more time is needed due to the complexity of the issues involved. The timeline for  dispute mechanism is therefore extended,” Borrell said in a statement.

“All JCPOA participants reconfirmed their determination to preserve the agreement which is in the interest of all,” he said, using the acronym for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action which is the official name of the Iran deal.

On January 14, Borrell was notified by Paris, London, and Berlin that they had triggered the dispute mechanism, in theory starting a 15-day process to resolve issues with Iran. However, in practice it is not clear when the 15-day period should start because Iran has not formally recognized the consultation process, officials have said.

Borrell said the Joint Commission that regulates the Iran nuclear deal will meet in February but did not give a date.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned against prematurely scrapping the international nuclear deal with Iran, saying that it would be wrong to abandon an “imperfect” deal with nothing better in place.

Britain, France, and Germany – collectively known as the EU3 or E3 – launched the process last week charging Iran with failing to observe the terms of the multinational nuclear agreement, a move that could eventually see the UN Security Council reimpose international sanctions on the country.

Iran has criticized the three European nations for inaction over sanctions the United States reimposed after unilaterally withdrawing from the landmark accord in May 2018.

Iran has rejected the European move to trigger the dispute mechanism of the deal, saying it “has no legal basis.”

The 2015 nuclear deal reached with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States gave Iran relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear program.

A year after the US pullout, Iran began to roll back its commitments to the accord in retaliation.

Iran’s latest and final step in January entailed forgoing the limit on the number of machines used to make uranium more potent.

Iran has said it will return to its nuclear obligations if the European signatories hold their part of the bargain.

“The very day you return to your commitments, we will live up to our own commitments,” President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday.

EU stance

The Wall Street Journal cited European diplomats as saying that the E3 will avoid triggering sanctions against Iran.

The US daily reported on Thursday that European diplomats don’t expect Iran to reverse the suspension of its nuclear deal commitments and that the diplomats “privately say they are prepared to tolerate those steps”.

According to the WSJ report, European diplomats are seeking to persuade Iran against taking major “new nuclear steps Iran has not taken yet” and “restrain” the expansion of its nuclear activities.

The report added that European officials are currently divided, however, on what would constitute as a restrained approach from Iran, with some proposing that Tehran’s “modest” continued expansion of its uranium production would be acceptable.

Reuters and Press TV contributed to this story.

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“If this trend continues, Iran will take this final step towards nuclear deal,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said at a press conference on Monday.

Since May, Iran has been gradually reducing its commitments to the 2015 agreement, which is officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The countermeasures came in response to the United States’ withdrawal from the deal last year, its resumption of draconian anti-Iranian sanctions, and refusal by Washington-aligned deal partners — the UK, France, and Germany — to guarantee Iran’s business interests under the JCPOA after the sanctions returned.

As part of the retaliatory steps, Iran stopped recognizing the limits set by the deal on the level of its enrichment activities and the volume of its heavy water reservoir.

On January 5, however, the country said it would no longer observe any operational limitations on its nuclear industry, whether concerning the capacity and level of uranium enrichment, the volume of stockpiled uranium or research and development. The abrupt decision came two days after a set of US drone strikes assassinated senior Iranian commander and the most revered anti-terror military figure in the Middle East, Lieutenant-General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.

Mousavi said so far the countermeasures that have been taken by the Islamic Republic have been meant “to strike a balance” between the quality of Iran’s commitment to the JCPOA and the way others honor the accord.

Amid their continued violation of the JCPOA, the European trio even decided to formally trigger a dispute settlement mechanism featured in the deal that saw them accusing Iran of flouting the agreement.

‘Ball in Europe’s court’

Tehran has unequivocally specified that its retaliatory steps fit within the JCPOA’s Paragraph 36, and are reversible if the other parties begin minding their obligations.

Mousavi said Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has reminded European officials, especially the European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrel, of Europe’s role in preserving the JCPOA.

He regretted that Europe’s “lack of determination and independence [from the US]” have so far frustrated the initiatives, which have been offered to save the deal.

“If there is one party, who needs to be decisive, it is them, who should make a decision to be independent or listen to a bully like the US,” the spokesperson noted.

Mousavi also addressed Tuesday remarks by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said he would be willing to work on a “Trump deal” to replace the JCPOA.

“Johnson’s remarks, which thrilled US President Donald Trump, are beneath our notice,” he said.

Mousavi said, though, that despite the “betrayal” perpetrated by some European states, “the door to negotiation with them has not been closed yet,” adding, “The ball is in their court.”

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