Iranian President Hassan Rouhani made the remarks Monday night in reaction to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who promised “strongest sanctions in history” on Iran if Tehran refuses to change its foreign and domestic policy and to accept his laid-out 12 conditions for any “new deal” in the wake of Trump's pullout from the JCPOA.

“The current US administration has returned Washington to about 15 years ago, repeating the same old words of 2003 and 2004,” said President Rouhani, referring to the George W. Bush era.

“All countries in the world demand independence in their decision-making,” Rouhani said. “Perhaps the Americans may succeed in advancing certain objectives by exerting pressure, but logic does not accept that the US should decide for the whole world.”

The Iranian president noted Pompeo’s previous post as the CIA director, adding “it is utterly unacceptable that a man, who had served for years in an intelligence agency, to try and make decisions for Iran and other countries as US Secretary of State.”

“Who do you think you are to make decisions for Iran and the world, and to tell us what to do about our nuclear technology?” said Rouhani.

The President further dismissed Pompeo’s remarks as old and repetitive, adding “the Iranian people will pay them no mind and continue on their own path as a united nation.”</s>Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said the world will "not accept" US unilateralism just hours after Washington laid out a series of tough demands to be included in a potential new nuclear treaty with Iran.

In remarks carried by Iran's ILNA news agency on Monday, Rouhani said the era of the US making decisions for the rest of the world was "over".

"Countries are independent ... We will continue our path with the support of our nation," Rouhani said.

"Who are you to decide for Iran and the world?"

Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump's defied efforts by European allies and announced Washington's withdrawal from a landmark multinational pact signed with Iran in Vienna in 2015 and a decision to impose tough sanctions on Tehran.

In announcing the new US strategy towards Iran, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday warned Washington "will apply unprecedented financial pressure on the Iranian regime" unless it complied with a list of 12 conditions, which must be met before any new deal can be reached.

The demands include giving the International Atomic Energy Agency a full account of the country's former nuclear military programme, withdrawing its forces from Syria and ending what Pompeo described as Iran's "threatening behaviour" towards its neighbours.

Also responding to Pompeo, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif accused the US of a "regression to old habits", saying Washington's diplomatic efforts were a "sham".

"It repeats the same wrong choices and will thus reap the same ill rewards. Iran, meanwhile, is working with partners for post-US JCPOA solutions," Zarif said in a tweet on Monday.

Political analyst Jamal Abdi said the US knew that Iran could never agree with such demands.

"[It's a smokescreen of 'We want to handle this diplomatically', but I think this is all about paving a path towards confronting Iran militarily - whether that's through covert action or an overt escalation in the region."

Under the 2015 deal with six world powers - China, France, Russia, the UK, the US and Germany, as well as the European Union - Iran scaled back its enrichment of uranium and vowed not to pursue nuclear weapons in exchange for sanctions relief.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly confirmed that Tehran has been meeting its nuclear commitments enshrined in the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), fully.

The spat comes after several European companies expressed concern about continuing business with Iran following the US exit, raising further doubts about the viability of the deal.

Danish shipping giant Maersk Tankers, German insurer Allianz and Italian steel manufacturer Danieli have all announced plans to halt, or wind down altogether, operations in the country.

French energy giant Total has also warned it will pull out of a multibillion-dollar project to develop Iran's vast South Pars gas field unless granted a waiver by US authorities.

Despite recent efforts from EU leaders to safeguard the 2015 deal, Zarif has accused the bloc of not doing enough to preserve its future, saying it "needs to take more practical strides and increase its investments in Iran if it is to continue its economic cooperation with the Islamic Republic [Iran]".

Reacting to Pompeo's comments, Boris Johnson - foreign secretary of Britain, which is party to the 2015 nuclear deal - said the "jumbo negotiation" sought by Washington would be extremely difficult to achieve within a "reasonable timetable".

"I think in the end, we will get back to the kind of additions to the JCPOA that we initially envisaged - but it may take a long time," Johnson said on Monday ahead of a G20 foreign ministers summit in Argentina, at which discussions about the nuclear deal are expected to take place.

Britain has vowed to honour the 2015 agreement, which Johnson said had "protected the world from an Iranian nuclear bomb, and in return [given] the Iranians some recognisable economic benefits".

On Thursday, the European Commission said it would launch the process of activating a law that bans European companies and courts from complying with US sanctions against Iran.

Jean Claude Juncker, the commission's president, said it has a "duty to protect European companies" from Washington's punitive fiscal measures.

The options being considered by the bloc to keep Tehran in the nuclear deal reportedly include new credit lines, increased energy cooperation and implementing EU laws to block European firms from caving in to US sanctions.

EU trade with Iran has increased dramatically since the sanctions on its economy were lifted as part of the 2015 deal.

Last year, trade between the bloc and Iran totalled over 20bn euro ($23.5bn), with most exports being machinery and transport goods and the majority of imports being energy-related products.</s>The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has slammed the address made by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and "anyone who backs" Washington, saying that the Iranian people would deliver a "strong punch to the mouth" of the American official.

"The people of Iran should stand united in the face of this," Ismail Kowsari, the deputy commander of the Sarollah Revolutionary Guards base in Tehran added, as quoted by the Iranian Labour News Agency.

The statement comes a day after Pompeo delivered a speech dubbed "After the Deal: A New Iran Strategy," in which he promised that the US would apply unprecedented financial pressure on Tehran via "strongest in history" sanctions. While stating that Washington won't renegotiate the historic Iran nuclear deal, he also outlined 12 demands for Tehran, including the withdrawal of forces from Syria.

The Islamic Republic has slammed the address, with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani saying that the world cannot accept that Washington makes unilateral decisions for all nations.

READ MORE: Israeli PM Praises Pompeo's Iran Speech as 'Policy That Can Guarantee Security'

In its turn, the EU, which has been one of the brokers of the 2015 nuclear agreement, has also criticized the move: "Secretary Pompeo's speech has not demonstrated how walking away from the JCPOA (nuclear deal) has made or will make the region safer from the threat of nuclear proliferation or how it puts us in a better position to influence Iran's conduct in areas outside the scope of JCPOA."

The US relations with its major EU allies — namely Germany, France and Britain — members of the P5+1 group that reached the nuclear accord, have significantly deteriorated due to President Donald Trump's decision on the withdrawal from the accord, which he has long been as the "worst deal in history."

According to German media reports, the EU, Germany, France and Britain have invited Russia and China to discuss the future of the Iranian nuclear deal in Vienna, with the US representatives being sidelined from the upcoming meeting.</s>"Who are you to decide for Iran and the world?" he was quoted saying by the Iranian news agency ILNA. "The world today does not accept America to decide for the world, as countries are independent," Declaring the era of US domination "over," Rouhani added, "We will continue our path with the support of our nation." The suggestion of a further US military role in the region was striking, since President Trump has said he seeks to draw down the US troop presence in Syria, where Iran provides training and arms to militiamen. Colonel Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters the military is looking at potential actions to push back against Iran's regional military influence as part of a larger US government response. He said the United States would take "all necessary steps" to contain Iran, but declined to provide specifics.

State Department officials say the aim of the speech is to outline a path forward after Trump announced he would withdraw the United States from the 2015 landmark nuclear deal with Iran and reimpose sanctions, a decision that immediately puts the United States in breach of its commitments. The Treasury Department already has reimposed sanctions on the head of Iran's Central Bank and other companies and groups. "The Iranian regime should know that this is just the beginning," Pompeo warned. "After our sanctions come into full force, it will be battling to keep its economy alive," he added. "Iran will be forced to make a choice: either fight to keep its economy off life support at home or keep squandering precious wealth on fights abroad. It will not have the resources to do both."

Many European officials, including those who negotiated the Iran agreement alongside the United States, have chafed at the Trump administration's positions on Iran, the Paris climate accord, moving the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and trade tariffs. "With friends like that, who needs enemies," European Council President Donald Tusk groused recently. US President Donald Trump stands with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo The new secretary of state, now in his fourth week in office, made clear that the United States is prepared to square off with Europe, using secondary sanctions against companies that do business in Iran. "We understand our re-imposition of sanctions and the coming pressure campaign on the Iranian regime will pose financial and economic difficulties for a number of our friends," Pompeo said. "But you should know that we will hold those doing prohibited business in Iran to account." In negotiating the Iran deal, the Obama administration also started with a long list of demands. But they made concessions along the way on issues they considered less important than the goal of setting future limits on Iran's nuclear deal and getting international inspectors to monitor it.

"The list of requirements of the Iranians asks for everything but conversion to Christianity and reads more like a demand for unconditional surrender than an actual attempt at negotiation," said Jeremy Shapiro, research director at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Pompeo said the administration is seeking a full treaty with Iran, not just "fixes" to the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Rather, he demanded Iran's complete capitulation on 12 points. Judging by its reaction to similar proposals made previously, Tehran is likely to reject most, if not all. Among the items on Pompeo's wish list is a full acknowledgment of Iran's previous attempts to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran has denied ever wanting to build nuclear arms. US negotiators tried unsuccessfully to get Iran to admit it tried to build one in the early 2000s. Other demands the Iranians are unlikely to go along with include stopping uranium enrichment and ballistic missile tests, and allowing international inspectors access to all sites, including military locations where critics suspect clandestine research. Currently, inspectors must outline the basis for their suspicions.

The one demand that Iran could theoretically assent to is the release of all US citizens imprisoned on a variety of charges, as well as citizens of countries allied with the United States such as France and Britain. At least six Americans are imprisoned or unaccounted for, and they are widely considered to be bargaining chips. Trita Parsi, head of the National Iranian American Council, called most of Pompeo's demands "non-starters." "This will only lead to one thing: confrontation," he said. "And one cannot help but think that is the strategy and the goal." Pompeo stopped short of calling directly for regime change, but he urged Iranians to think of Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif as part of a corrupt, venal and dangerous regime. Previous US officials and the Europeans consider them relative pragmatists who are less dogmatic than the radical theocrats. "The West often treats President Rouhani and Foreign Minister Zarif as 'apart' from the regime's unwise, terrorist, and malign behaviours," Pompeo said, speaking directly to the Iranian people. "Yet, Rouhani and Zarif are your elected leaders. Are they not the most responsible for your economic struggles? Are these two not responsible for wasting Iranian lives through the Middle East? It is worth the Iranian people considering."</s>Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said the world would "not accept" US unilateralism just hours after Washington laid out a series of tough demands to be included in a potential new nuclear treaty with Iran.

In remarks carried by Iran's ILNA news agency on Monday, Rouhani said the era of the United States making decisions for the rest of the world was "over".

"Countries are independent ... We will continue our path with the support of our nation," Rouhani said.

"Who are you to decide for Iran and the world?"

Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump defied efforts by European allies and announced Washington's withdrawal from a landmark multinational pact, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed with Iran in 2015 and a decision to impose harsh sanctions on Tehran.

{articleGUID}

In announcing the new US strategy towards Iran, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday warned that Washington "will apply unprecedented financial pressure on the Iranian regime" unless it complied with a list of 12 conditions, which must be met before any new deal can be reached.

The demands include giving the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) a full account of the country's former nuclear military programme, withdrawing its forces from Syria and ending what Pompeo described as Iran's "threatening behaviour" towards its neighbours.

Also responding to Pompeo, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif accused the US of a "regression to old habits", saying Washington's diplomatic efforts were a "sham".

"It repeats the same wrong choices and will thus reap the same ill rewards. Iran, meanwhile, is working with partners for post-US JCPOA solutions," Zarif said in a tweet on Monday.

US diplomacy sham is merely a regression to old habits: imprisoned by delusions & failed policies—dictated by corrupt Special Interest—it repeats the same wrong choices and will thus reap the same ill rewards. Iran, meanwhile, is working with partners for post-US JCPOA solutions. — Javad Zarif (@JZarif) May 21, 2018

Political analyst Jamal Abdi said the US knew that Iran could never agree with such demands.

"[It's a] smokescreen of 'We want to handle this diplomatically', but I think this is all about paving a path towards confronting Iran militarily - whether that's through covert action or an overt escalation in the region."

Pompeo's comments were welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the demands amounted to "the only policy that could ultimately guarantee the security of the Middle East".

"We call on the entire international community to join this American position," Netanyahu said on Monday.

Anwar Gargash, the United Arab Emirates' minister of state for foreign affairs, also said Washington was taking the correct stance on Iran.

"Uniting [our] efforts is the correct path for Iran to realize the futility of its incursions and expansionism ... The Pompeo strategy requires wisdom and a change of the Iranian compass," Gargash said in a tweet on Monday.

EU diplomacy

Under the 2015 deal with six world powers - China, France, Russia, the UK, the US and Germany, as well as the European Union - Iran scaled back its enrichment of uranium and vowed not to pursue nuclear weapons in exchange for sanctions relief.

The IAEA repeatedly confirmed that Tehran has been meeting its nuclear commitments enshrined in the deal fully.

The spat comes after several European companies expressed concern about continuing business with Iran following the US exit, raising further doubts about the viability of the deal.

Danish shipping giant Maersk Tankers, German insurer Allianz and Italian steel manufacturer Danieli have all announced plans to halt, or wind down altogether, operations in the country.

French energy giant Total has also warned it will pull out of a multibillion-dollar project to develop Iran's vast South Pars gas field unless granted a waiver by US authorities.

Despite recent efforts from EU leaders to safeguard the 2015 deal, Zarif has accused the bloc of not doing enough to preserve its future, saying it "needs to take more practical strides and increase its investments in Iran if it is to continue its economic cooperation with the Islamic Republic [Iran]".

'Jumbo negotiation'

Reacting to Pompeo's comments, Boris Johnson - foreign secretary of the UK, which is party to the 2015 nuclear deal - said the "jumbo negotiation" sought by Washington would be extremely difficult to achieve within a "reasonable timetable".

"I think in the end, we will get back to the kind of additions to the JCPOA that we initially envisaged - but it may take a long time," Johnson said on Monday before a G20 foreign ministers summit in Argentina, at which discussions about the nuclear deal are expected to take place.

Britain has vowed to honour the 2015 agreement, which Johnson said had "protected the world from an Iranian nuclear bomb, and in return [given] the Iranians some recognisable economic benefits".

{articleGUID}

Federica Mogherini, the European Union's foreign policy chief, told reporters later on Monday there is "no alternative" to the deal.

On Thursday, the European Commission said it would launch the process of activating a law that bans European companies and courts from complying with US sanctions against Iran.

Jean Claude Juncker, the commission's president, said it has a "duty to protect European companies" from Washington's punitive fiscal measures.

The options being considered by the bloc to keep Tehran in the nuclear deal reportedly include new credit lines, increased energy cooperation and implementing EU laws to block European firms from caving in to US sanctions.

EU trade with Iran has increased dramatically since the sanctions on its economy were lifted as part of the 2015 deal.

Last year, trade between the bloc and Iran totalled over 20bn euro ($23.5bn), with most exports being machinery and transport goods and the majority of imports being energy-related products.</s>"Who are you to decide for Iran and the world?" he was quoted saying by the Iranian news agency ILNA. "The world today does not accept America to decide for the world, as countries are independent," Declaring the era of US domination "over," Rouhani added, "We will continue our path with the support of our nation." The suggestion of a further US military role in the region was striking, since President Trump has said he seeks to draw down the US troop presence in Syria, where Iran provides training and arms to militiamen. Colonel Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters the military is looking at potential actions to push back against Iran's regional military influence as part of a larger US government response. He said the United States would take "all necessary steps" to contain Iran, but declined to provide specifics.

State Department officials say the aim of the speech is to outline a path forward after Trump announced he would withdraw the United States from the 2015 landmark nuclear deal with Iran and reimpose sanctions, a decision that immediately puts the United States in breach of its commitments. The Treasury Department already has reimposed sanctions on the head of Iran's Central Bank and other companies and groups. "The Iranian regime should know that this is just the beginning," Pompeo warned. "After our sanctions come into full force, it will be battling to keep its economy alive," he added. "Iran will be forced to make a choice: either fight to keep its economy off life support at home or keep squandering precious wealth on fights abroad. It will not have the resources to do both."

Many European officials, including those who negotiated the Iran agreement alongside the United States, have chafed at the Trump administration's positions on Iran, the Paris climate accord, moving the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and trade tariffs. "With friends like that, who needs enemies," European Council President Donald Tusk groused recently. US President Donald Trump stands with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo The new secretary of state, now in his fourth week in office, made clear that the United States is prepared to square off with Europe, using secondary sanctions against companies that do business in Iran. "We understand our re-imposition of sanctions and the coming pressure campaign on the Iranian regime will pose financial and economic difficulties for a number of our friends," Pompeo said. "But you should know that we will hold those doing prohibited business in Iran to account." In negotiating the Iran deal, the Obama administration also started with a long list of demands. But they made concessions along the way on issues they considered less important than the goal of setting future limits on Iran's nuclear deal and getting international inspectors to monitor it.

"The list of requirements of the Iranians asks for everything but conversion to Christianity and reads more like a demand for unconditional surrender than an actual attempt at negotiation," said Jeremy Shapiro, research director at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Pompeo said the administration is seeking a full treaty with Iran, not just "fixes" to the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Rather, he demanded Iran's complete capitulation on 12 points. Judging by its reaction to similar proposals made previously, Tehran is likely to reject most, if not all. Among the items on Pompeo's wish list is a full acknowledgment of Iran's previous attempts to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran has denied ever wanting to build nuclear arms. US negotiators tried unsuccessfully to get Iran to admit it tried to build one in the early 2000s. Other demands the Iranians are unlikely to go along with include stopping uranium enrichment and ballistic missile tests, and allowing international inspectors access to all sites, including military locations where critics suspect clandestine research. Currently, inspectors must outline the basis for their suspicions.

The one demand that Iran could theoretically assent to is the release of all US citizens imprisoned on a variety of charges, as well as citizens of countries allied with the United States such as France and Britain. At least six Americans are imprisoned or unaccounted for, and they are widely considered to be bargaining chips. Trita Parsi, head of the National Iranian American Council, called most of Pompeo's demands "non-starters." "This will only lead to one thing: confrontation," he said. "And one cannot help but think that is the strategy and the goal." Pompeo stopped short of calling directly for regime change, but he urged Iranians to think of Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif as part of a corrupt, venal and dangerous regime. Previous US officials and the Europeans consider them relative pragmatists who are less dogmatic than the radical theocrats. "The West often treats President Rouhani and Foreign Minister Zarif as 'apart' from the regime's unwise, terrorist, and malign behaviours," Pompeo said, speaking directly to the Iranian people. "Yet, Rouhani and Zarif are your elected leaders. Are they not the most responsible for your economic struggles? Are these two not responsible for wasting Iranian lives through the Middle East? It is worth the Iranian people considering."</s>TEHRAN: Iran's President Hassan Rouhani dismissed threats made by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday, saying the rest of the world no longer accepts Washington making decisions on their behalf.

"Who are you to decide for Iran and the world?" Rouhani said in a statement carried by multiple Iranian news agencies.

"The world today does not accept that the United States decides for the world. Countries have their independence," he added.

It was a pointed response to Pompeo's speech earlier in the day, in which he threatened the "strongest sanctions in history" against Iran unless it capitulated to a series of 12 demands regarding its regional behaviour and missile programme.

But Rouhani dismissed the administration of President Donald Trump as a "move 15 years backwards to the era of Bush junior and a repeat of the same statements as 2003".

"The era of such statements has evolved and the Iranian people have heard these statements hundreds of times, and no longer pays attention," he added.

European leaders have strongly condemned the US move to abandon the 2015 nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions, seeing it as undermining regional security and a direct attack on their economic interests.

Russia and China -- two other parties to the agreement -- have also criticised the US move and vowed to maintain trade with Iran.

"The world does not accept the logic by which a gentleman who was head of the spy service... decides for others," said Rouhani, referring to Pompeo's recent job as head of the CIA.</s>"The world today does not accept that the United States decides for the world. Countries have their independence," Rouhani said

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani dismissed threats made by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo today, saying the rest of the world no longer accepts Washington making decisions on their behalf.

"The world today does not accept that the United States decides for the world. Countries have their independence," Rouhani said in a statement carried by multiple Iranian news agencies.

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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani rejects Pompeo's demands, and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif accuses the U.S. of "repeating past mistakes."