US intent on inflaming confrontation with Iran

After the United States announced its withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal on May 8, 2018, the remaining signatory parties to the agreement, including Iran, vowed to remain committed to the deal.

But ever since it backtracked on the pact, the US has increased the economic and strategic pressure on Iran, reviving its sanctions against the Islamic republic and demanding other countries sever their economic ties with Iran. Most recently, by refusing to reissue the sanctions waivers allowing major importers to continue buying Iran's oil.

In response, Iran announced on Wednesday that it would stop respecting the restrictions on its nuclear activities if the remaining signatories to the accord－China, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and the European Union－fail to deliver on their commitments to help Iran benefit from the deal despite the US sanctions.

The other parties to the 2015 nuclear deal have 60 days to help Iran circumvent the effects of the US sanctions, otherwise it will end its curbs on uranium enrichment, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a statement broadcast on national television on Wednesday.

Teheran insisted that its ultimatum does not mean it is withdrawing from the nuclear deal, rather it is necessary surgery to keep the deal alive in the face of the US pressure.

Under such circumstances, as China's Foreign Ministry spokesman said, it is the shared responsibility of all the remaining parties to uphold the deal, and oppose Washington's unruly and irresponsible actions.

Iran's latest response to the US pressure and provocation is both reasonable and understandable. Teheran should not take the blame for jeopardizing the multilateral deal. It is Washington that has done that by reneging on its promises and ratcheting up tensions.

By unilaterally scrapping an international agreement on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, the US has set a bad example in international relations. Given the International Atomic Energy Agency's confirmation that Teheran has fully complied with its commitments, Washington has neither a legal nor moral basis to justify its actions.

Sending warships and a bomber task force to the region aggravates an already tense situation, and reveals Washington has not learned any lessons from the previous occasions when it has tried to insist that might makes right. If it continues to press Iran and force it to resume high level enrichment of uranium, it will be folly compounding folly.

Instead of submitting, as is its wont, to mindlessness born of arrogance, Washington should engage Teheran in dialogue, which is the only viable way to ease the spiraling tensions and usher in the right atmosphere for resolving the Iranian nuclear issue in a calm and rational manner.