Hard-line lawmakers celebrated President Donald Trump's announcement to pull the US out of the Iran deal - a decision that will mostly help them win the sympathies of the Iranian people - by burning a US flag while shouting "Death to America!" in Parliament, the Telegraph reported.

They also burned a piece of paper representing the nuclear deal (despite Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declaring during his rebuttal to Trump that Iran would seek further cooperation with its European partners and China, but barring that would begin enriching uranium "in the next weeks") and stomped on the paper's ashes.

Rouhani dispatched his foreign minister, Javad Zarif, to begin negotiating with the countries still in the deal - a group that includes, France, the UK, Germany, Russia and China. Even so, Rouhani stressed that he could restart the country's centrifuges at any time.

"So if necessary, we can begin our industrial enrichment without any limitations," the Iranian leader said. "Until implementation of this decision, we will wait for some weeks and will talk with our friends and allies and other signatories of the nuclear deal, who signed it and who will remain loyal to it. Everything depends on our national interests."

After the flag burning demonstration, Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said responsibility for saving the accord now falls to the European Union.

"The period is only a window in which the EU can prove if it has enough weight for settling down international issues or not?" he said. Larijani also urged the country's nuclear program to prepare for "resumption of all aspects of nuclear activities."

All of the remaining signatories to the deal expressed their disappointment with the US decision.

On Wednesday, China vowed to "safeguard" the agreement.

Sergei Lavrov, Russia's acting foreign minister, said Russia remained committed to the deal.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council basked in what they see as an immense political victory over their regional rival, Tehran.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain swiftly backed U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to reimpose sanctions on Tehran, reflecting their concern about Iran's ballistic missile programme and support for militant groups. "Paris and London may not like Trump’s decision, but how would the French or British feel if their capital cities came under direct threat by the Iranians?" Faisal Abbas wrote in Saudi Arabia's English-language Arab News daily next to a headline that read: "The deal is dead."

Many observers said that, while harsh criticism of the US has been a staple of Iranian politics for years, it was the first time anybody could remember something being burned inside the Parliament building.

The demonstration reflects broad public anger in Iran following Trump's decision, which effectively puts an end to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, otherwise known as the Iran deal (although as noted earlier, there are many unknowns on just how the unwind will take place). While Iranian officials, including the parliament speaker, say they hope Europe will work with them to preserve the deal, many are pessimistic.

The lawmakers, including a Shiite cleric, held the flaming flag alight as their colleagues joined their chants.

While US flag-burning is common in Iran and harsh criticism of America has been a staple of Iranian parliamentary politics for years, it was the first time political observers could remember anything being burned inside the parliament itself.</s>TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian lawmakers have set a paper U.S. flag ablaze at parliament after President Donald Trump’s nuclear deal pullout, shouting, “Death to America!”

Lawmakers held the impromptu demonstration inside parliament on Wednesday, the day after Trump’s decision. They also burned a piece of paper representing the nuclear deal.

The chant “Death to America” long has been used in Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution. It also has been common to hear it within parliament.

However, Wednesday’s demonstration shows the public anger coursing through Iran after Trump’s decision.</s>Tehran, Iran (CNN) On Tuesday afternoon, US President Donald Trump made good on a promise to "tear up" the Iran nuclear deal. By Wednesday morning, hardline Iranian lawmakers delivered on vows to "burn it" in response.

Convening in Iran's parliament -- the Majlis -- conservative MPs literally set a copy of the landmark agreement on fire. They also burned the United States flag amid chants of "Death to America."

"Trump's abandoning of the nuclear deal was a diplomatic show... Iran has no obligation to honor its commitments under the current situation," Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said in his address to the assembly.

"It is obvious that Trump only understands the language of force."

Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has made a last-ditch effort to moderate Iran's response to Trump's pullout, promising to commit to the agreement for the time being.

But from where I stand in Tehran, it is very difficult to see how the agreement will survive, and for the policy of negotiating with the West, championed by Rouhani, to emerge unscathed.

Clinging to hope

In an address following Trump's announcement on Monday, Rouhani indicated that if other parties to the agreement could provide assurances that Iran would continue to "fully benefit" from the deal, his country in turn would stick to its part of the agreement.

The United Kingdom, France and German -- known as the E3 -- as well as China and Russia are party to the multilateral nuclear agreement, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Each has promised to abide by the deal after Trump's withdrawal, continuing to do business with Iran as they have since the agreement lifted international sanctions.

"I have ordered the foreign ministry to negotiate with the European countries, China and Russia in coming weeks," said Rouhani. "If at the end of this short period we conclude that we can fully benefit from the JCPOA with the cooperation of all countries, the deal would remain."

The alternative, Rouhani seemed to indicate, would spell disaster for international security. He said he had ordered the country's atomic industry organizations to prepare to restart enrichment at an "industrial level" if negotiations fail.

Iran's Supreme Leader, and final arbiter on all Iranian policy, echoed those threats even more strongly. "Within the next few years, on the basis of assessment of the experts, the country will have 20,000 megawatts of nuclear energy," Ayatollah Khamenei said, according to a transcript of his remarks on his official webpage.

"When the nuclear issue started, some of our well-known people were saying why do we need a nuclear program? Just put it aside. Of course, this was wrong. The nuclear issue is needed by the country," he continued.

Much of the rest of the country appears to have adopted Rouhani's stance and is clinging to hope. Many newspapers here are praising Rouhani's response, advocating a wait-and-see approach to see if the Europeans will stand by them, preventing the country from plunging into an even deeper economic crisis.

Still it's difficult to see how this will work. The US is not only pulling out of the agreement but has also reinstated secondary sanctions, meaning countries from Europe that do business with Iran may also be penalized.

US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell has already said that German firms should wind down business dealings that they have in Iran "immediately."

Indeed one of the countries hurt most by Trump's announcement is France -- and just on the heels of French President Emmanuel Macron's "bromance" with the US President.

The French have longstanding partnerships in Iran's automotive sector, which is going to be targeted by Trump's sanctions. France's oil giant Total signed a deal to develop phase 11 of Iran's South Pars field with a substantial initial investment . Trump's sanctions have also hit Iran's oil and gas sector.

While Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif have called on the Europeans to defy the US, this seems to be a tall order.

Iran's conservatives, meanwhile, aren't banking on European rescue. Instead, they are preparing their public for a confrontation between the US and Iran and have said that there should be a very strong response to Trump's withdrawal.

It's not clear what the response would look like and how this could hurt the US.

Iranians believe they have honored the deal

While Trump and his cohort of critics of the Iran deal have argued that the agreement has given the country a strategic edge in the region, allowing it leeway to perfect its ballistic missile program, the Iranians say the opposite.

They argue that they have abided by the deal, stopping their uranium enrichment program, permanently destroying their only water reactor in Arak along with many of their centrifuges. Weapons inspectors and US intelligence officials, including former CIA chief and current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have attested to Iran's compliance with the agreement.

On the other hand, Iranians say they have seen little in the way of economic benefits, with some US sanctions having remained and Trump's persistent threats to withdraw since taking office dealing a major blow to investor confidence in the Islamic republic.

Trump's announcement yesterday only cemented skepticism, giving hardliners here a big boost. Iran's hawks have always maintained the US couldn't be trusted, and now they are saying "we told you so," greatly undermining Rouhani who has persistently advocated diplomacy with the West.

An end to optimism

A great deal of optimism filled Tehran's streets when the landmark nuclear agreement was first announced on July 14, 2015. Many Iranians from various parts of the country's diaspora, particularly the US, streamed into Iran to start businesses there.

They felt strongly that a bright future could be on the horizon. As the deal played out over the past two years, that optimism faded. On Tuesday night, it took a severe blow with what could be the end of the nuclear agreement.

Trump's actions have potentially united Iranians behind hardliners against the US. Contrary to Trump's hopes to exhaust the regime with extra sanctions, he may have inadvertently extended its life.</s>Wednesday, just one day after President Trump announced the U.S. would exit the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal, Iranian parliament burned a printed paper symbolizing an American flag while yelling “death to America.”

Click here to watch the full video.

The “Death to America” chant has been used in Iran for many years, dating back to the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Additionally, the slogan has been a frequent term shouted within parliament.

The protest occurred as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday that Iran continued to seek “engagement with the world” and hoped European leaders would continue to “preserve the deal.” but added that the Islamic nation could restart its nuclear program whenever it wanted, according to reports.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, criticized Trump’s decision to withdrawal from the nuclear agreement, calling the U.S President’s comments “silly and superficial.”

Khamenei took it one step further by taking to Twitter to express his thoughts on the U.S. President:

France, Germany and the U.K. along with a majority of U.S. officials oppose President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal while Israel supports the decision noting they’ve been against the deal.

Following the “death to America,” flag burning protest by lawmakers of the Iranian Parliament it is unclear where world leaders now stand on the matter.

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After the United States withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a group of conservative Iranian lawmakers burned American flags and chanted Death to America.