Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has lambasted Donald Trump over his decision to unilaterally pull the US out of the 2015 nuclear deal, saying that his statement was “ludicrous and shallow”, as hardliners rejoiced at the US exit. 
 
 “I say it on behalf of Iranian people, Mr Trump, you can’t do a damn thing,” said Khamenei, who wields ultimate power in Iran, a day after the US president broke with European allies over what he said was a “horrible, one-sided” agreement. 
 
 The Ayatollah said Trump’s statement on the 2015 landmark nuclear deal, also known as the joint comprehensive plan of action (JCPOA), contained “more than 10 lies”. He said: “He both threatened the system as well as the nation ... The body of this man, Trump, will turn to ashes and become the food of the worms and ants, while the Islamic Republic continues to stand.” 
 
 Hardliners in Iran have been given a new lease of political life with Trump’s decision to torpedo the agreement and reimpose economic sanctions at the highest level, seizing on an opportunity to consolidate their power over reformists who championed the pact. 
 
 On Wednesday the commander of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards congratulated the nation on the US exit. Mohammad Ali Jafari said: “I congratulate and see as a good deed the vicious withdrawal of the US from JCPOA, which was not credible even before the withdrawal … It was proved once more that US isn’t trustworthy in regards its commitments.” 
 
 At the opening session of the Iranian parliament, a group of hardline MPs held up a paper US flag and the text of the JCPOA before setting fire to both and chanting “death to America”. 
 
 The MPs’ protest was a nod to Khamenei, who had said in June 2016, prior to Trump’s election, that if the Americans “tear it up, we will set it on fire”. 
 
 Q&A What is the Iran nuclear deal? Show Hide In July 2015, Iran and a six-nation negotiating group reached a landmark agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that ended a 12-year deadlock over Tehran’s nuclear programme. The deal, struck in Vienna after nearly two years of intensive talks, limited the Iranian programme, to reassure the rest of the world that it cannot develop nuclear weapons, in return for sanctions relief. 
 
 At its core, the JCPOA is a straightforward bargain: Iran’s acceptance of strict limits on its nuclear programme in return for an escape from the sanctions that grew up around its economy over a decade prior to the accord. Under the deal, Iran unplugged two-thirds of its centrifuges, shipped out 98% of its enriched uranium and filled its plutonium production reactor with concrete. Tehran also accepted extensive monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has verified 10 times since the agreement, and as recently as February, that Tehran has complied with its terms. In return, all nuclear-related sanctions were lifted in January 2016, reconnecting Iran to global markets. The six major powers involved in the nuclear talks with Iran were in a group known as the P5+1: the UN security council’s five permanent members – China, France, Russia, the UK and the US – and Germany. The nuclear deal is also enshrined in a UN security council resolution that incorporated it into international law. The 15 members of the council at the time unanimously endorsed the agreement. Read a full explainer here 
 
 Khamenei said on Wednesday it was not feasible for Iran to continue implementing the agreement without making sure that the European partners in the agreement, the UK, France and Germany, could withstand US pressure. The EU wants to keep the agreement but a US exit might trigger a collapse of the deal because US sanctions will hamper European business with Tehran. 
 
 
 
 “It is not logical to continue the implementation of the Iran deal without receiving enough guarantees from three European countries,” Khamenei said. “Now it is said that we continue [the deal] with the three countries. I even don’t trust these three countries. Receive practical guarantees from them. If you can, that’s fine. But if you cannot receive a guarantee, it will not be possible to continue implementing Barjam,” he said, referring to the Persian acronym for the JCPOA. 
 
 
 
 Ali Larijani, the speaker of the parliament, said Tehran would wait to gauge how the European partners in the nuclear talks would handle the US exit from the deal. His comments echoed those of the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, who has said the agreement could survive if Europe defies Trump. 
 
 Play Video 2:11 What is the Iran nuclear deal? – video 
 
 The US exit from the agreement dominated Wednesday’s newspaper front pages in Tehran. “Barjam minus America,” read the main headline on the front page of the reformist Ebtekar daily. “US exit from Barjam puts an end to the world’s trust in the empire of lies,” Ettela’at’s front page said. 
 
 Iran deal: Trump breaks with European allies over 'horrible, one-sided' nuclear agreement Read more 
 
 “Trump tore up the agreement, now it’s time for us to set it on fire,” read the front page headline of Kayhan, an ultra-conservative daily whose editor is appointed directly by Khamenei. 
 
 Despite Rouhani’s assurances that Iran is prepared to withstand the impact of a US exit, Trump’s decision has revived worries of conflict inside Iran, where people are concerned about the state of its already fragile economy, and consequences for the fate of reformists. 
 
 On Tuesday night ordinary Iranians were on tenterhooks, monitoring any immediate impact on the country’s national currency, and prompting panic-buying of hard-to-find dollars amid political uncertainty. The rial traded at the all-time low on Wednesday. One US dollar was exchanged for 75,000 rials. 
 
 
 
 Sadegh Zibakalam, a prominent political commentator and professor of politics at Tehran University, struck a pessimistic tone about the consequences of Trump’s decision. 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Iran’s President Rouhani speaks about the nuclear deal in Tehran on Tuesday. Photograph: Reuters TV/Reuters 
 
 “Many people are worried about war,” he told the Guardian by phone from Tehran. “Whenever the country faces a crisis in its foreign policy or economy, the situation gets better for hardliners, they’d be able to exert their force more easily.” 
 
 
 
 He added: “At the same time, hardliners will gain politically from this situation, because they’ll attack reformists and moderates like [President] Rouhani that this is evidence of what they had been saying for years, that the US cannot be trusted, and that the US is always prepared to knife you in the back.” 
 
 
 
 Foad Izadi, a Tehran-based conservative political analyst, said Trump’s aim was to confront Iran with greater force but that it could withstand the pressure. “For 40 years, we have been living under sanctions. The collapse of the nuclear deal will mean that we have to find ways to circumvent sanctions, something we have done in the past,” he said. 
 
 For ordinary Iranians, however, the prospects are gloomy. One, Arash Tavanafar, said the psychological pressure of Trump’s decision on the Iranian population could prove more powerful than its economic effect. “The psychological pressure and worry is destroying us, especially the youth, because we neither have any trust in this political system, nor any hope for its reform. We’ve only become spectators of its downfall,” he said. 
 
 
 
 Quick guide Telegram in Iran Show Hide It’s hard to overstate the power of Telegram in Iran. Of its 80m population, an estimated 40m use the free app created by Russian national Pavel Durov. Its clients share videos and photos, subscribing to groups where everyone from politicians to poets broadcast to fellow users. While authorities ban social media websites like Facebook and Twitter and censor others, Telegram users can say nearly anything. In the last presidential election, the app played a big role in motivating turnout and spreading political screeds. Telegram touts itself as being highly encrypted and allows users to set their messages to “self-destruct” after a certain period, making it a favourite among activists and others concerned about their privacy. That too has made it a worry of Iranian authorities. A channel run by an exiled journalist, Roohallah Zam, helped organise some of those who took to the street, including times and locations for protests, and was suspended by Durov after Iranian authorities complained that it was inciting violence. Zam, who denies the allegations, responded by launching new channels to spread messages about upcoming protests before the government ordered the app shut down. 
 
 
 
 Mohammad, a postdoctoral student, said Trump’s decision would undermine moderates in Iran as the country might have to name a new supreme leader in the coming years. Khamenei is 78, and there has been speculation over his health. “Moderates can play a significant role in the appointment of the new leader if they’re not weakened, something that can hugely affect the future generations in the country,” Mohammad said. ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Analysis: What's next for the Iran deal? Barbara Plett Usher explains 
 
 France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian says the Iranian nuclear deal is "not dead" despite US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw. 
 
 The 2015 agreement curbed Iran's nuclear activities in return for the lifting of sanctions that had been imposed by the UN, US and EU. 
 
 But Mr Trump argued that the deal was "defective at its core", saying he would pull out and reimpose sanctions. 
 
 Other signatories to the nuclear accord say they remain committed to it. 
 
 The deal was agreed between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the US, UK, France, China and Russia - plus Germany. It was struck under Mr Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama. 
 
 Iran said it would try to salvage the agreement, but would restart uranium enrichment if it could not. 
 
 In a statement, President Hassan Rouhani said: "If we achieve the deal's goals in co-operation with other members of the deal, it will remain in place." 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption There was fury in Iran's parliament following the announcement 
 
 But the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was sceptical, saying he did not trust Britain, France or Germany, and would need "guarantees" before continuing the nuclear deal. 
 
 "I said many times from the first day: don't trust America," he said in comments carried on his official website. 
 
 How do key powers see Mr Trump's decision? 
 
 In his comments to French radio, Mr Le Drian said "the deal is not dead. There's an American withdrawal from the deal but the deal is still there". 
 
 He said there would be a meeting between France, Britain, Germany and Iran on Monday. 
 
 Russia said it was "deeply disappointed" by Mr Trump's decision while China expressed regret. 
 
 But the move has been welcomed by Iran's major regional rivals, Saudi Arabia and Israel. 
 
 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a prominent critic of the accord, said he "fully supports" Mr Trump's withdrawal from a "disastrous" deal. 
 
 Why did the US withdraw? 
 
 In his address on Tuesday, President Trump called the nuclear accord - or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as it is formally known - a "horrible, one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made". 
 
 He said he would work to find a "real, comprehensive, and lasting" deal that tackled not only the Iranian nuclear programme but its ballistic missile tests and activities across the Middle East. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Iran nuclear deal: Trump announces US pull-out 
 
 Mr Trump also said he would reimpose economic sanctions that were waived when the deal was signed in 2015. 
 
 The US Treasury said the sanctions would target industries mentioned in the deal, including Iran's oil sector, aircraft manufacturers exporting to Iran and Iranian government attempts to buy US dollar banknotes. 
 
 Major European and US companies are likely to be hit. Some exemptions are due to be negotiated but it is not yet clear what. 
 
 US National Security Adviser John Bolton is reported as saying that European companies doing business in Iran will have to stop doing so within six months or face US sanctions. 
 
 Collision course 
 
 Analysis by Jonathan Marcus, BBC defence and diplomatic correspondent 
 
 The deal was not perfect. It did not cover a range of worrying Iranian activities from its missile programme to its regional behaviour. 
 
 The inconvenient truth for Donald Trump is that, as far as it goes, the nuclear deal was working. 
 
 Despite this, Mr Trump presented it in stark and frankly erroneous terms - for leaving out things that it was never supposed to cover in the first place. 
 
 He has put US diplomacy on a collision course with some of Washington's closest allies. 
 
 And some fear that he may have brought a new and catastrophic regional war in the Middle East that much closer. 
 
 What was agreed under the deal? 
 
 The JCPOA saw Iran agree to limit the size of its stockpile of enriched uranium - which is used to make reactor fuel, but also nuclear weapons - for 15 years and the number of centrifuges installed to enrich uranium for 10 years. 
 
 Iran also agreed to modify a heavy water facility so it could not produce plutonium suitable for a bomb. 
 
 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Iran limited its sensitive nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief 
 
 In return, sanctions imposed by the UN, US and EU that had crippled Iran's economy were lifted. 
 
 Iran insists its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful, and its compliance with the deal has been verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who on Wednesday again said Iran was honouring its commitments. 
 
 President Rouhani has warned that Iran could resume "industrial-scale" uranium enrichment if the agreement collapses. 
 
 After the deal was implemented, it was estimated it would take Iran at least 12 months to gather enough highly-enriched uranium or plutonium to build a nuclear weapon if it chose to do so. 
 
 But experts say that it could still take Iran years to acquire a working nuclear arsenal. ||||| Russian President Vladimir Putin steps down from his plane on his arrival to Mehrabad Airport, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017. Putin arrived in Iran for trilateral talks with Tehran and Azerbaijan.... (Associated Press) 
 
 Russian President Vladimir Putin steps down from his plane on his arrival to Mehrabad Airport, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017. Putin arrived in Iran for trilateral talks with Tehran and Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi) (Associated Press) 
 
 TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday strongly backed Iran and its nuclear deal with world powers, saying Moscow opposed "any unilateral change" to the accord after U.S. President Donald Trump refused to re-certify it. 
 
 Putin made the comments on a one-day trip to Tehran for trilateral talks between Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia, a meeting largely focused on improving road and rail links to the neighboring countries on the Caspian Sea. 
 
 However, the nuclear deal loomed large as Putin met with both Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who easily won re-election this year after securing the atomic deal, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters. 
 
 "We oppose any unilateral change in the multilateral nuclear deal," Putin said while meeting Khamenei, according to a statement from the supreme leader's office. "We oppose linking Iran's nuclear program with other issues including defensive issues." 
 
 Moscow has stood by Tehran while Trump has refused to re-certify the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, including Russia. The other parties to the accord — Britain, China, France, Germany and the European Union — have also urged Trump to stay in the deal. 
 
 The U.S. Congress now will make a decision regarding the 2015 nuclear deal, in which Iran agreed to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. In recent days, lawmakers have targeted Iran with new sanctions over its ballistic missile program, which wasn't included in the deal but which American officials say violates the spirit of the accord. 
 
 Khamenei praised Putin's "strong" character. 
 
 "Because of this reason, it is possible to have logical dialogue and cooperation with Russia as a big power about big jobs that require determination and effort," the supreme leader said. 
 
 Russia and Iran have a complicated history. Many still remember how Russia, alongside Britain, invaded and occupied Iran during World War II to secure oil fields and Allied supply lines. 
 
 But while Britain withdrew, Russia refused to leave, sparking the first international rebuke by the nascent U.N. Security Council in 1946. During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Iran allowed refugees into the country and backed mujahedeen rebel fighters — as did the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. 
 
 While Gulf Arab states sought the protection of the U.S. after the 1991 Gulf War, Iran tilted toward Russia. Russia has supplied surface-to-air missiles to Iran, and helped it to build its first nuclear power plant, in the southern port city of Bushehr, which went online in 2011. The two countries are now partnering in the construction of two more nuclear reactors at the site. 
 
 Russia and Iran have both provided crucial support to President Bashar Assad's forces in the Syrian civil war, something Rouhani praised during his meeting with Putin. 
 
 "Iranian and Russian cooperation has had a great impact in fighting terrorism in the region," Rouhani said, according to a statement from his office. "The joint cooperation and consultations are very important in the final stages too." 
 
 Iran allowed Russia access to its air bases last year to bomb targets in Syria. But that struck a nerve in Iran, whose constitution bars foreign militaries from having bases in the country. 
 
 Russia has reached out to Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, promising weapons systems and other investments to the ultraconservative Sunni kingdom. That too has raised eyebrows in Shiite Iran, which is the kingdom's Mideast rival. 
 
 Prior to Putin's arrival on his third trip to Iran, Russia's armed forces chief, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, met with his Iranian counterpart, Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, and discussed defense and security issues, Iranian state television reported on Wednesday, without elaborating. 
 
 Tehran-based political analyst Saeed Leilaz said Putin's visit to Tehran could lead to more investment in the oil industry and other infrastructure projects that "may encourage European and Chinese and even American companies to enter the Iranian market." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
– President Trump's decision to pull the US from the Iran nuclear deal drew a fiery response from conservative Iranian lawmakers Wednesday—during the opening session of the country's parliament, they burned a paper American flag and the text of the 2015 deal, chanting "Death to America." But they were scenes of celebration, not anger, the Guardian reports. Hardliners in Iran view the US pullout as an opportunity to gain power over moderates who pushed for the 2015 deal, analysts say. The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards issued a statement Wednesday congratulating the country over the US move, saying it "was proved once more that US isn't trustworthy in regards its commitments." Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, challenged Trump over the withdrawal Wednesday, saying "You cannot do a damn thing," CNBC reports. But while hardliners are calling for the country to immediately restart its nuclear program, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the deal can still be salvaged. He announced late Tuesday that he will send his foreign minister to visit the other signatories: China, France, Germany, Russia, and the UK. Jean-Yves Le Drian, France's foreign minister, said Wednesday that "the deal is not dead," the BBC reports. "There's an American withdrawal from the deal but the deal is still there," he said. Russian officials said they were "deeply disappointed" by Trump's decision, though it was cheered by Tehran foes Israel and Saudi Arabia.