Iran | Supreme leader, lawmakers lash out at US on nuclear deal

President Hassan Rouhani addresses the nation in a televised speech in Tehran

Iran’s supreme leader chastised President Donald Trump yesterday over his decision to pull America out of the 2015 nuclear deal, while lawmakers lit a paper U.S. flag on fire inside parliament, shouting, “Death to America!”

The government backlash reflected broad public anger in Iran over Trump’s decision, which threatens to destroy the landmark agreement. While Iranian officials, including the parliament speaker, say they hope Europe will work with them to preserve the deal, many are pessimistic.

In comments before school teachers, Khamenei told Trump: “You cannot do a damn thing!” The exhortation from Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, follows a pattern of Iranian leaders declaring their nation’s ability to resist foreign pressure or interference.

Khamenei described Trump’s speech as having “over 10 lies,” without elaborating on them. He also said Trump’s remarks threatened both Iran’s people and its theocratic government.

Earlier, the lawmakers, including a Shiite cleric, held the flaming flag alight as their colleagues joined their chants. They also burned a piece of paper representing the nuclear deal and stomped on the papers’ ashes.

While U.S. flag-burning is common in Iran and harsh criticism of America has been a staple of Iranian parliamentary politics for years, it was the first time political observers could remember anything being burned inside the parliament itself.

The 2015 agreement imposed restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of most U.S. and international sanctions.

However, the deal came with time limits and did not address Iran’s ballistic missile program or its regional policies in Syria and elsewhere. Trump has repeatedly pointed to those omissions in referring to the accord as the “worst deal ever.” Proponents of the deal have said those time limits were meant to encourage more discussion with Iran in the future that could eventually address other concerns.

President Hassan Rouhani said he’d be sending Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to the countries still in the deal — China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom.

Iran hopes the European Union will pass laws to protect European firms from any potential U.S. sanctions. EU officials have suggested they’ll do what they can to salvage the agreement.

Still, Rouhani made a point of stressing that Iran, at any time, could resume its nuclear program.

“So if necessary, we can begin our industrial enrichment without any limitations,” the Iranian leader said. “Until implementation of this decision, we will wait for some weeks and will talk with our friends and allies and other signatories of the nuclear deal, who signed it and who will remain loyal to it. Everything depends on our national interests.”

Earlier yesterday after the flag burning, parliament speaker Ali Larijani said responsibility for saving the deal fell on the EU and other world powers still in the accord.

“The period is only a window in which the EU can prove if it has enough weight for settling down international issues or not?” he said.

Larijani also urged the country’s nuclear department to prepare for “resumption of all aspects of nuclear activities.”

Many Iranians are worried about what Trump’s decision could mean for their country.

The Iranian rial is already trading on the black market at 66,000 to the dollar, despite a government-set rate of 42,000 rials. Many say they have not seen any benefits from the nuclear deal.

Iran’s poor economy and unemployment sparked nationwide protests in December and January that saw at least 25 people killed and, reportedly, nearly 5,000 arrested. Nasser Karimi & Amir Vahdat, Tehran, AP

European businesses most affected by Washington sanctions

Major companies, particularly in Europe, could see billions of dollars in commercial deals canceled because of the U.S. decision to reinstall sanctions on Iran, though the ultimate impact remains unclear due to the possibility of renegotiations and exemptions, experts say.

President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and re-impose sanctions on Iran means companies worldwide must stop doing business with the country or run afoul of the U.S. government.

Companies and countries with commercial deals with Iran would have either 90 or 180 days to wind down those activities, depending on the type of products being sanctioned. And firms would not be able to generate new business.

Certain exemptions and waivers can be negotiated, but the U.S. did not say what products or countries might qualify.

Since the Iran nuclear deal was struck in 2015, it was mainly European companies that moved back in to strike deals with Iran, making Trump’s decision particularly painful for the region.

“U.S. Iran sanctions are hardly hitting any U.S. companies, but aim primarily at European ones,” Carl Bildt, the former leader of Sweden who is now co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations, said in a tweet. The EU has in the past found this utterly unacceptable, he added, though it was unclear still how European leaders would respond.

Among U.S. companies, plane maker Boeing has signed the biggest deals, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday that its existing licenses — as well as those of its European competitor, Airbus Group — would be invalidated.

In December 2016, Airbus signed a deal with Iran’s national carrier, IranAir, to sell it 100 airplanes for around USD19 billion at list prices. Boeing later struck its own deal with IranAir for 80 aircraft with a list price of some $17 billion, promising that deliveries would begin in 2017 and run until 2025. Boeing separately struck another 30-airplane deal with Iran’s Aseman Airlines for $3 billion at list prices.

Boeing has yet to deliver any aircraft to Iran under those deals and said that it will “continue to follow the U.S. government’s lead.”

Airbus, which is subject to the U.S. license because it makes at least 10 percent of its aircraft components in the U.S., says it will abide by the new U.S. sanctions but it could take “some time” to determine the full impact on the industry. It has already delivered two A330-200s and one A321 to Iran.

The U.S. says the sanctions will also sharply curtail sales of oil by Iran, which is currently the world’s fifth-largest oil producer. In the case of oil sales, there will be a 180-day period for countries to wrap-up existing contracts and achieve “significant reductions” in their purchases of crude from Iran.

Mnuchin declined to spell out what the administration would consider as a “significant reduction” in purchases of Iranian oil. U.S. law gives the Treasury secretary the power to administer sanctions imposed by the president.

So far, French oil company Total SA has been the most aggressive Western oil company to move back into Iran, signing in July a $5 billion, 20-year agreement with Iran. A Chinese oil company also has a deal to develop the country’s massive South Pars offshore natural gas field.

Total did not respond to requests for comment.

The price of oil rose sharply yesterday to its highest since 2014 on expectations that the new sanctions will crimp Iranian energy exports. AP