Rouhani says committed to nuclear deal as long as interests served

Iran will remain committed to a multinational nuclear deal as long at it serves the country’s national interests, and its ballistic missile programme will expand despite pressure from the United States, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Friday.

Rouhani's statement comes in response to US President Donald Trump’s speech earlier on Friday in which he said he would not continue to certify the multinational agreement.

Defying Trump, Rouhani said Tehran will double its efforts to expand the country's defense capabilities, including the country's ballistic missile programme despite the US pressure to suspend it. 

Trump said in an address at the White House that he would not continue to certify the multinational agreement and warned he might ultimately terminate it.

Rouhani said in a live televison address that Trump's speech was full of “insults and fake accusations.”.

“The Iranian nation has not and will never bow to any foreign pressure...Iran and the deal are stronger than ever ... Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps will continue its fight against regional terrorists,” Rouhani said.

"The IRGC has always protected our nation against terrorists ... It will continue to help oppressed nations in the region," Rouhani said. 

The IRGC is Iran’s most powerful security entity and wields control over large swathes of Iran’s economy as well as considerable influence within its political system. 

Trump policy to isolate US

He added that Trump’s decision to decertify the deal would isolate the United States as other signatories of the accord remained committed to it. 

The deal was not renegotiable, he said.

"He (Trump) has not studied international law. Can a president annul a multilateral international treaty on his own? Apparently he doesn't know that this agreement is not a bilateral agreement solely between Iran and the United States," Rouhani said. 

He said Trump's aggressive new strategy against Iran shows that he is "more than ever against the Iranian people".

"Today the United States is more than ever opposed to the nuclear deal and more than ever against the Iranian people," he said.

He also said that the US claims to be countering nuclear weapons whereas it is the sole country to have used them.

Rouhani also said that the anti-US slogans in Tehran are not against the American people but against the US policies.

While Trump did not pull the US out of the agreement, he gave the US Congress 60 days to decide whether to reimpose economic sanctions on Tehran that were lifted under the 2015 pact.

World powers committed to pact

Trump's policy shift increases tension with Iran as well as putting Washington at odds with other signatories of the accord such as Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and the European Union, who say the US cannot unilaterally cancel the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

However, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Israel have welcomed the Trump's move. 

Macron says committed to nuclear deal

French President Emmanuel Macron assured his Iranian counterpart of France's commitment to the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, Macron's office said.

Macron told Rouhani that the US decision not to certify the agreement would not end it and that France and its European partners would keep carrying out their commitments in regard to the deal, a statement said.

Macron also spelled out in a phone conversation the conditions Iran must comply with, including strict respect of the deal.

He told Rouhnani that French foreign minister Yves Le Drian will travel to Iran in coming weeks.

The two leaders also discussed Macron's possible visit to Tehran.

IAEA says Iran under world's toughest controls

Shortly after Trump's speech, the chief of the UN atomic watchdog reiterated that Iran was under the world's "most robust nuclear verification regime".

"The nuclear-related commitments undertaken by Iran under the JCPOA are being implemented," Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

He referred to the Iran nuclear deal by its proper name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPA).