Iran’s reaction shows its losing hopes in Europe

US French relationship

Following the 45-minute joint press conference between U.S. President Donald Trump and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, of which the majority was spent discussing various policy issues vis-à-vis Iran, senior Iranian regime officials are extremely concerned about Europe falling in line with the United States on the Iran nuclear deal – formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – and adopting a policy of strong actions against Iran’s regional meddling and ballistic missile program.

Iran’s state TV: “The French President, who used to talk about maintaining the JCPOA, spoke of reforming the deal while at the White House. Macron said we are seeking an agreement regarding all issues at hand, such as long-term nuclear activities, ballistic missiles, and Iran’s regional meddling.”

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani felt the need to respond to such damning developments.

“If Europe intends to please Trump, they should do so from their own pockets and not from ours. As far as our interests in the JCPOA are concerned, we will remain in the deal. If these interests are not guaranteed, we will exit the agreement,” he said.

Rouhani also claimed if the U.S. exits the JCPOA “we will be able to manage the country without any problems, considering the fact that we have enough revenue,” according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.

Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani claimed Tehran will follow Trump’s “behavior” and answer consequently, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency.

Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, considers the “agreement between Europe and the U.S. regarding the JCPOA and the future of our nuclear program as lacking any credit or value, according to the Fars news agency, affiliated to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

Iranian officials are both attempting to save face and claim they are ready for all possible scenarios. The truth is, however, these remarks in itself resemble their grave concerns.

Iran’s propaganda machine is boasting about the possibility of launching uranium enrichment at 20 percent. This, however, is a JCPOA violation and Trump has expressed specific warnings in this regard.

As a result, the Iranian regime is neither in any position to pay the enormous price necessary to exit the JCPOA nor in a position to show meaningful resistance in the face of Europe aligning more and more with the U.S..

Interesting is how Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the man with the altimate word on all major state affairs, including national security and foreign policy, has remained silent.