WASHINGTON �� Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, warned Sunday that President Donald Trump's efforts to weaken the 2015 nuclear agreement will hurt U.S. international credibility.
Zarif suggested that the U.S. might end up facing worse consequences than Iran as a result of Trump's steps last week against the deal between Iran and six world powers, including the United States.
"Nobody else will trust any U.S. administration to engage in any long-term negotiation because the length of any commitment, the duration of any commitment from now on with any U.S. administration would be the reminder of the term of that president," Zarif said in an interview conducted Saturday in Tehran and aired Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation."
On Friday, Trump said his administration would not certify Iran's compliance with the agreement. That declaration does not end the deal, but does trigger a review by Congress. The deal's other signatories have signaled continuing support for the agreement.
Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, sought to dispel any notion that Trump's decision would lead to any immediate break with the deal.
U.S. law requires the president's certification every 90 days. Trump had twice declared Iran in compliance, but balked before Sunday's deadline.
"Right now, you're going to see us stay in the deal," Haley said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." Calling the president's move an important preventive measure, she said: "What we're saying now with Iran is: Don't let it become the next North Korea."
Trump has urged Congress to consider the reimposition of sanctions if Iran engages in activities like firing ballistic missiles. In an executive action, he also set in motion new sanctions against Iran's elite military unit, the Revolutionary Guard, which has broad powers as a regional enforcer for the Tehran government.
