Iran nuclear chief hopes Trump, US officials to ‘come to their senses’

By Trend

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi hoped that US President Donald Trump and other American officials would “come to their senses” and meet Washington’s obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

Speaking to reporters in the northeastern city of Mashhad on April 30, Salehi pointed to a possible move by the US to withdraw from the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and said technically, Iran is capable of returning its nuclear industry to the pre-JCPOA conditions, Tasnim news agency reported.

“We are at a level much higher than that of the pre-JCPOA era,” he said, referring to the country’s advanced capabilities in the area of peaceful nuclear technology.

“We hope that Trump, his colleagues and administration would come to their senses and avoid causing troubles for themselves, us and others,” he added.

The US president Donald Trump has repeatedly called the deal with Iran harmful, arguing that it did not prevent Iran from creating nuclear weapons, but only delayed it.

President Trump is expected to sign a presidential waiver on sanctions on the Islamic Republic on May 12.

European officials have already held several talks with Tehran, Moscow and Washington as part of a drive to salvage the nuclear deal with Iran that Trump is threatening to scuttle.