US Exit of INF Treaty Not to Reverse Change in Int’l Power: Iran’s Zarif
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reacted to the US government’s move on Friday to leave the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Russia and said the international commerce and power are shifting and exiting from the treaty cannot reverse that.
“Int'l commerce & power are shifting: neither #EconomicTerrorism against China & Iran nor exiting #INFTreaty with Russia will reverse that,” Zarif said on his Twitter account on Friday.
“As Iran's regional dialog & non-aggression pact advance, #B_Team shrinks. US should stop isolating itself & adapt to new global realities,” the Iranian top diplomat wrote in his tweet.
The United States formally withdrew from a landmark nuclear missile pact with Russia on Friday after claiming that Moscow was in violation of the treaty, something the Kremlin has repeatedly denied.
Washington signaled it would pull out of the arms control treaty six months ago unless Moscow stuck to the accord, but Russia said that was a ploy to exit a treaty it said the United States wanted to leave anyway in order to develop new missiles.
The 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) was negotiated by then-US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
