Zarif: US nuclear policy brings world "closer to annihilation"
TEHRAN(Basirat): The United States' new nuclear policy brings humanity "closer to annihilation", Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned in a tweet.
"The US Nuclear Posture Review reflects greater reliance on nukes in
violation of the #NPT, bringing humankind closer to annihilation. No
wonder the Doomsday Clock is at its most dangerous since 1953," Zarif
tweeted on Saturday.
The US Defense Department's Nuclear Posture Review released Friday outlines the Pentagon's nuclear ambitions under President Donald Trump, while spelling out how it foresees nuclear threats in the coming decades.
Zarif also said in his tweet: "Trump’s obduracy in killing the #JCPOA (Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers) stems from the same dangerous imprudence”.
Trump gave the Iran nuclear deal, negotiated before he took office, a final reprieve last month but warned European allies and Congress they had to work with him to fix "the disastrous flaws” in the pact or face a US exit.
The agreement, reached between Iran and the P5+1 countries – the US, the UK, France, China, Russia and Germany – puts limitations on parts of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for removing all nuclear-related sanctions. A decision to reimpose sanctions would have effectively ended the nuclear agreement.
The new US nuclear policy has riled Russia and raised fears that it could increase the risk of miscalculation between the two world powers.
Reaction of Moscow, Beijing
Moscow on Saturday denounced the "bellicose" and "anti-Russian" nature of the policy, warning it would take necessary measures to ensure its own security.
China also said Sunday it is "firmly opposed" to the US new nuclear weapons policy statement, describing its speculation about Chinese intentions as "wild guesses".
The report says China has added new types of nuclear capabilities – ranging from a mobile intercontinental ballistic missile to a new ballistic missile submarine – "with little to no transparency into its intentions".
The report makes "wild guesses" about China's intentions and exaggerates the threat of its nuclear force, Defense Ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang said in a statement.
China is "firmly opposed to this", Ren said.
China "has always kept its own nuclear forces at the minimum level required by national security", Ren said, pointing out that the US has the world's largest nuclear arsenal.
"We hope that the United States will abandon its Cold War mentality," Ren said.
Source:Irandailynews
