Iranian President Hassan Rouhani Threatens to Back Out of Nuclear Deal

Escalating tensions with U.S., he warns that Tehran could swiftly restart its program

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday threatened to revive his country’s nuclear program if the U.S. continues to pile on sanctions, in a direct warning he is prepared to tear up a deal that set the stage for Iran’s opening to the West.

Mr. Rouhani didn’t specify a threshold that would trigger Iran’s departure from the 2015 nuclear deal with six world powers, including the U.S., but, in a fresh escalation of tensions, he said the country could react swiftly if it chose to restart its efforts.

“Iran will certainly return to conditions much more advanced than before the negotiations started in a short period, not on a weekly or monthly scale, but on a daily and hourly scale” if the U.S. continues leveling sanctions, Mr. Rouhani said.

At a time when the Trump administration is also trading threats with North Korea over its nuclear program, the comments threaten to exacerbate already tense relations with the U.S. under President Donald Trump, whose election produced an about-face in American policy toward Iran.

Though Mr. Trump has certified that Iran is still in compliance with the accord, the president has lashed out at Tehran over its continued ballistic missile tests and support for U.S.-designated terrorist groups in the region. His administration put new sanctions on Iran-related entities, mostly connected to its ballistic missile program, in February, May and July.

Iranian forces have also had a fraught recent string of interactions with American naval forces in the Persian Gulf.

An Iranian drone came within 100 feet of an American F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet as it prepared to land on the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier a week ago, an incident the U.S. military described as unsafe and unprofessional.

Another Iranian drone made close passes to the Nimitz on Sunday, coming within 1,000 feet of U.S. aircraft, the military said.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a powerful force separate from the regular military that answers only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Monday that the U.S. claims of a dangerous approach by an Iranian drone were baseless.

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