Iran won't renegotiate nuclear deal, foreign minister says

Iran's foreign minister said onThursday that U.S. demands to change its 2015 nuclear agreement withworld powers were unacceptable, as a deadline set by U.S. PresidentDonald Trump for Europeans to "fix" the deal loomed.

Trump has warned that unless European allies rectify the"terrible flaws" in the international accord by May 12, he will refuse to extend U.S. sanctions relief for the oil-producingIslamic Republic.

"Iran will not renegotiate what was agreed years ago and hasbeen implemented," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said ina video message posted on YouTube.

Britain, France and Germany remain committed to the accordas is, but now, in efforts to keep Washington in it, want to open talks on Iran's ballistic missile program, its nuclearactivities beyond 2025 when key provisions of the deal expire and its role in Middle East crises such as Syria and Yemen.

A senior adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah AliKhamenei also warned Europeans on Thursday over "revising" thenuclear deal, under which Iran strictly limited its enrichmentof uranium to help allay fears this could be put to producingatomic bomb material, and won major sanctions relief in return.

"Even if U.S. allies, especially the Europeans, try torevise the deal ...one of our options will be withdrawing from it," state television quoted Ali Akbar Velayati as saying.

Effort to save the pact

The European signatories to the deal have been trying topersuade Trump to save the pact, reached under his predecessorBarack Obama. They argue it is crucial to forestalling adestabilizing Middle East arms race and that Iran has beenabiding by its terms, a position also taken by U.S. intelligenceassessments and the UNnuclear watchdog agency.

"Let me make it absolutely clear and once andfor all,"Zarif said, "we will neither outsource our security nor will we renegotiate or add onto a deal we have already implemented ingood faith."

Referring to Trump's past as a property magnate, Zarifadded:"To put it in real estate terms, when you buy a house and move your family in, or demolish it to build a skyscraper, youcannot come back two years later and renegotiate the price."

Defying Western demands, Iran has repeatedly said it has nointention of reducing its imprint in Middle East affairs and itsmissile capabilities, which it has said are defensive in natureand have nothing to with nuclear activity covered by the deal.

"It now appears that ... some Europeans have been offeringmore concessions from our pocket," Zarif said. "This appeasement [of Trump]entails a new deal that would include matters we alldecided to exclude at the outset of our negotiations."

Zarif, speaking in English in the YouTube video, said theUnited States had "consistently violated the nuclear deal, particularly by bullying others to prevent businesses fromreturning to Iran."

Major European banks and businesses continue to shun theIslamic Republic for fear of falling foul of remaining U.S.sanctions, hampering Iran's efforts to rebuild foreign trade andlure much-needed foreign investment to its economy.