President Hassan Rouhani on May 7, 2018, for the first time, hints that Iran will likely remain in the nuclear deal even if the United States decides to pull out. (file photo)
TEHRAN, May 7 (Xinhua) -- President Hassan Rouhani on Monday, for the first time, hinted that Iran will likely remain in the nuclear deal even if the United States decides to pull out, official IRNA news agency reported.
"If our expectations from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) are met without the United States, so much the better," Rouhani said in Iran's northeastern Mashhad city.
"Otherwise, we will make our own decision," he said.
Also, Tasnim news agency reported on Monday quoting Rouhani as saying that "we have our own plan. If what we demand from the JCPOA is fulfilled by the non-American (parties in the deal), the U.S. withdrawal will be the removal of a trouble."
"Or, we will follow our legal and rational option if what we expect is not fully accomplished," Rouhani said.
Rouhani said that except few countries, including the United States, the whole world trusts Iran and wants to preserve the JCPOA.
"Today we are telling the world that if you are worried about Iran's access to nuclear bomb, we have completely allayed this concern in the JCPOA and the deal ensures that Iran does not seek nuclear weapons," he was quoted as saying.
He warned Washington against the "strategic mistake" of withdrawing from the nuclear deal, reiterating that Iran has no concerns about the U.S. cruel policies and wrong moves.
The Iranian president further lashed out at the U.S. policies in the Middle East, saying that over the past decades, U.S. officials have sought to contain Iran's power and influence in the region, and "no matter they remain in the nuclear deal or leave it, they pursue such a policy."
Rouhani vowed that the Islamic republic will withstand the U.S. objective to reduce Iran's regional power and influence.
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to decide by May 12 whether to pull out of the nuclear deal, and he has said that he would not extend the waiver suspending the U.S. sanctions on Iran.
Iran has threatened to resume nuclear enrichment activities in case Trump decertifies the nuclear deal.