US withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal benefits no one: Rouhani

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who's on a visit here on Wednesday, said that no one will get benefits from US withdrawal from the nuclear deal.

"Not the US, not any other country would benefit from this decision to withdraw from the accord," he said.

He told a press conference that Tehran would prefer to stay in the deal and continue to cooperate and meet its obligations, if the remaining signatories respect its interests, Xinhua reported.

Rouhani was in Vienna on Wednesday on his second leg of his European tour, which also brought him to Switzerland.

As the United States is reinstating sanctions on Iran, Rouhani is trying to seek supports from EU countries to secure Tehran's interests under the nuclear deal.

Iran signed the landmark nuclear deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) with the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China plus Germany in 2015 to halt its nuclear weapons program in exchange for sanctions relief.

However, US President Donald Trump decided on May 8 to quit the deal and vowed to re-impose sanctions, including oil embargo, on Tehran, on grounds that the deal had failed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons or supporting terrorism in the region.

The US withdrawal from the landmark nuclear deal has been widely criticized, as some of its major European allies have been working to prevent the 2015 deal from falling apart.

Rouhani also discussed other issues in the Middle East region with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

--IANS

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