SINGAPORE/TEHRAN: Iran's Foreign Minister Zarif said on Monday Tehran will cooperate with European signatories of 2015 nuclear deal to save it.
“We had frank and serious talks with (visiting German Foreign Minister Heiko) Maas ... Tehran will cooperate with EU signatories of the deal to save it,” Zarif told a joint news conference in Tehran.
Zarif also said Iran will never start a war, but will destroy any party who invades it.
“Whoever starts a war with us will not be the one who finishes it,” he said.
The US “cannot expect to stay safe” after launching its economic war, Zarif said.
"One cannot expect an economic war to continue against the Iranian people and that those waging this war and those supporting it remain safe," he said at a Tehran news conference with his visiting German counterpart Heiko Maas.
He directly blamed President Donald Trump for the ongoing tensions between Washington and Tehran.
“Mr. Trump himself has announced that the US has launched an economic war against Iran. The only solution for reducing tensions in this region is stopping that economic war,” Zarif said, adding that Germany and the EU had an "important role" in such efforts.
Earlier today, Iran criticized the European signatories of its 2015 nuclear deal for failing to salvage the pact after President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of it last year and reimposed sanctions, state television reported.
“So far, we have not seen practical and tangible steps from the Europeans to guarantee Iran’s interests ... Tehran will not discuss any issue beyond the nuclear deal,” said foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi.
US President Donald Trump imposed sweeping sanctions on Iran after walking away from a 2015 nuclear between Tehran and world powers that eased sanctions in exchange for curbs on its atomic programme.
The German minister said his country would do its utmost to ensure tensions do not escalate.
"There is war in Syria and in Yemen, fortunately not here," Maas said. "We want to do everything we can to keep it that way (for Iran.)
"Tensions here in the region are worrying, and we fear that isolated events could trigger developments that end in violence, and we want to prevent this at all costs," he added.
