TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani criticized U.S. lawmakers Sunday for, in his view, undermining a nuclear agreement but said Tehran had no intention of abandoning the deal.
In a speech to parliament, Rouhani slammed a Senate vote last week to extend for 10 years a long-standing package of trade, energy, defense and banking sanctions against Iran.
The unilateral U.S. restrictions were not rescinded by the agreement that Iran signed last year with six world powers — including the United States — to roll back its nuclear program in exchange for an easing of international sanctions.
Rouhani delivered an endorsement of the nuclear deal, a signature foreign policy achievement of the Obama administration that is under fire both from Iranian hard-liners and from President-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to “dismantle” it.
The moderate president’s speech was aimed mainly at pacifying hard-line domestic critics who say the nuclear accord has not delivered the economic benefits he promised. Iran’s economy continues to struggle nearly one year after restrictions on oil sales and other international trade were lifted.
“The benefits of the nuclear deal are clear for everybody,” Rouhani said. “We can now, under the nuclear deal, export as much oil as possible. International transportation and shipping are much less inexpensive, and many trade and foreign investment contracts and agreements have been signed.”
Iran has argued that unilateral U.S. sanctions over Tehran’s ballistic missile program and support for terrorism dent American credibility and undermine the spirit of the nuclear deal by restricting its access to dollars, the currency of most international trade.
The Senate voted 99-0 Thursday to extend the Iran Sanctions Act for 10 years. The White House has said President Barack Obama opposes the extension of the law but will not veto it.
“We believe the Iran Sanctions Act extension is not necessary, but we also believe it won’t interfere with the Iran deal,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz said.
Lawmakers say the extension allows the U.S. to punish Iran should the nation not live up to the terms of the nuclear deal.
Iranian officials, led by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have increased their anti-U.S. rhetoric in response to the continuing sanctions.
Iranian media reported Sunday that 145 lawmakers — half of the 290-member parliament — signed a petition to boycott all American-made products. If enacted, it could imperil a reported $25 billion agreement with Boeing to upgrade Iran’s passenger airline fleet, the biggest U.S.-Iran business deal since Washington cut diplomatic relations with Tehran after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
When Rouhani said a committee of Iran’s national security council would issue a report on implementation of the nuclear deal, chants of “Death to America!” echoed through the chamber.
Yet the nuclear deal remains popular in Iran for reducing its diplomatic isolation and in Western capitals for boosting hopes of winning Tehran’s cooperation on other issues, such as fighting Islamic State in Syria.
In the weeks before Trump’s inauguration, Iranian and U.S. government officials have sought to bolster the agreement. CIA Director John Brennan said last week that for Trump to scrap the deal would be the “height of folly.”
Despite the harsh anti-Iran rhetoric of Trump and top members of his incoming administration — including Gen. James Mattis, his choice for defense secretary, and Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, his national security adviser — Britain, Germany, China and other signatories continue to honor the nuclear deal. (Even Mattis has said that although he opposed the deal, he believes it is now too late to tear it up.)
