The Straits Times says

Cooling tensions between Iran and US

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A year after United States President Donald Trump abandoned the nuclear deal that was negotiated with Iran by his predecessor, Teheran has responded. President Hassan Rouhani, in a television broadcast on Wednesday, announced that the country is pulling out of key commitments it made under the 2015 international nuclear deal, whose signatories include Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia. The latter five had been informed in advance that Iran would start rolling back some of the commitments and will no longer sell enriched uranium and heavy water to other nations – in essence, signalling that these critical elements of a nuclear programme would be kept at home for whatever purpose Teheran deems fit.

Mr Rouhani’s remarks came after Iran’s Supreme National Security Council described as “psychological warfare”, a US announcement that it was sending an aircraft carrier flotilla and bombers to the Gulf region as a message to Teheran. He gave the five other signatory nations 60 days to protect Iran’s interests against US sanctions – essentially access to the oil exporting and international banking sectors. At the same time, Mr Rouhani has threatened dire measures if the Iranian nuclear issue was again referred to the United Nations Security Council, even as he left the door open for negotiations. Iran’s message, hence, is calibrated and nuanced. What is noteworthy is that Teheran continues to maintain that it is not pursuing a nuclear weapons programme.

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