Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, has blamed Europeans for sticking to the US stance and questioned their ability to save the Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
"It's clear that the Europeans cannot make an independent decision between Iran and America and are tied to America. The fate of the Iran deal is clear," Jafari was quoted by Iran's Fars news agency as saying.
READ MORE: 'Today's Announcement Is So Misguided': Obama Slams Trump's Iran Deal Decision
He also suggested that Washington abandoning the JCPOA indicated that the issue of Iran's uranium enrichment was nothing but an excuse to reign in Tehran's missile program and regional influence.
"One more time it's completely clear and has been proven that the Americans are bullies. The Americans cannot be trusted for any kind of negotiation or agreement," Jafari noted, adding that Iran has much experience in developing the country under sanctions.
Announcing his decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump called the agreement a "horrible, one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made," and suggested that it was "defective at its core."
READ MORE: US Lawmakers Warn of Potential Conflict With Iran After Exit From Nuclear Deal
The US Treasury said in a statement shortly after Trump's announcement that US sanctions against Iran would go into effect starting November.
Following Trump's announcement, all the other P5+1 group members, including France, Germany and Britain, voiced alarm over the decision. According to a joint statement issued by Paris, London and Berlin, "the nuclear non-proliferation regime is at stake" due to the US decision.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that the European Union was concerned over Washington's decision and urged the international community to preserve the JCPOA.
READ MORE: Watchdog: Trump's Decision to Exit From Iran Deal May Provoke Nuclear Crisis
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, for his part, said that "this [JCPOA] agreement is not dead" and that President Emmanuel Macron would speak to his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani later on Wednesday.
Another Iran nuclear deal signatory, Russia, has also criticized Trump's move, saying that "there are and there may be no grounds for undermining the JCPOA" which "fully proved its efficiency." Earlier, Russia had signaled its willingness to stick to the JCPOA provisions as long as other signatories did.
The JCPOA was signed by the EU, Iran and the P5+1 group, including Russia, China, France, the UK, the US and Germany, on July 14, 2015. The agreement stipulates Tehran pledging not to obtain a nuclear weapon in exchange for the lifting of sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
