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Iranian President Rouhani incensed by 'tradesman' Trump's plans for new nuclear deal
(WebFG News) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has reacted with fury at talks between the French and American leadership regarding Tehran's nuclear agreement, dismissing President Trump as a "tradesman".
French President Emmanuel Macron has been using his state visit to Washington to attempt to dissuade Trump from scrapping the 2015 deal, under which Iran was freed from sanctions in return for dialing back its nuclear programme.
Macron is not alone in his desire to maintain the deal as the other parties involved, Russia, China, Germany and Britain, have all indicated a wish to preserve it.
However, on Tuesday the two leaders said they were working on a "new deal" which would extend and expand the original in an effort to fix "disastrous flaws" that have riled the Trump administration.
In retaliation, Rouhani said of Trump: "You don't have any background in politics. You don't have any background in law. You don't have any background on international treaties."
The Iranian leader warned that there would be "severe consequences" if sanctions were imposed on the nation, and senior Iranian officials have indicated that this could mean immediate moves to step up the enrichment of uranium and withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The nation has maintained that it does not seek to acquire weapons of mass destruction and that through the signing of the 2015 deal Tehran had "showed goodwill to the world."
As tensions have mounted between the US and Iran, oil prices have soared, hitting their highest level in almost three and a half years on Tuesday as Brent crude surpassed $75 per barrel.
The US will decide by 12 May whether to maintain the current deal or abandon it and slap Iran with new sanctions.