Ayatollah Khamenei Threatens to ‘Set Fire’ to Iran Nuclear Deal

Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (Photo: AP)

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, threatened on Tuesday to “set fire” to the nuclear deal sealed with world powers if the US presidential candidates reneged on the agreement.

Republican candidate Donald Trump said that it would be hard to “rip up” the deal, but if elected president he would “police that contract so tough they don’t have a chance”.

Iran can expect a shift in relations with the United States to a more aggressive posture under a Republic president, as opposed to the warming trend nurtured by Democratic President Barack Obama.

The Islamic Republic won’t be the first to violate the nuclear deal. Staying faithful to a promise is a Qoranic order. But if the threat from the American presidential candidates to tear up the deal becomes operational then the Islamic Republic will set fire to the deal.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader

In a speech to a pro-Israel lobby group, Hillary Clinton, in March said that Iran still posed a threat to Israel and needed to be closely watched

The United States and Europe lifted sanctions on Tehran in January that curbed Iran’s nuclear programme. However, some restrictions remain, including on financial transactions, slowing Iranian hopes to reintegrate with world markets.

Khamenei noted that sanctions had not been completely lifted, issues with Iranian banks had not been resolved and that Iranian money that was being kept in other countries had not been returned.

(With inputs from Reuters.)