However, Rouhani added, Iran is not interested in escalating tension in the region and has never sought war with any country.
“We have always been committed to development of stability and security in the region and will make efforts in this respect,” Rouhani asserted.
Rouhani said the U.S. administration is responsible for escalation of tension in the region.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps on Thursday shot down a U.S. drone which violated Iran’s airspace. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the aerospace unit of the IRGC, said on Friday that the drone had received warnings for four times before being shot down.
“The U.S. drone was shot down after violating Iranian airspace and refusing to pay attention to several warnings by Iran’s defense systems. The Iranian armed forces will respond firmly if the U.S. seeks to violate Iran’s airspace and waters again,” Rouhani said in his conversation with the French leader.
Rouhani also said that the U.S. action in withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in May 2018 was against international interests.
There would be positive developments in the world if the JCPOA was implemented properly, Rouhani remarked.
Pointing to Europe’s lack of practical actions to preserve the JCPOA, the president said, “Iran will continue reducing its commitments phase by phase based on the JCPOA’s 26 and 36 articles if Iran does not gain benefits of the deal.”
On May 8, Iran announced a partial withdrawal from some aspects of the nuclear pact, saying that the country would no longer adhere to some of the limits on its nuclear activities. It also threatened to step up uranium enrichment if an agreement is not made within 60 days to protect it from the sanctions’ effects. The deadline ends on July 7.
In line with Tehran’s decision to scale back its commitments under the nuclear deal in protest to reimposition of sanctions by the United States, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) announced on June 17 that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium will exceed 300 kilograms by June 27.
Source » tehrantimes