Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, replaying to the latest round of US sanctions and threats, insisted his country remains committed to the P5+1 nuclear deal for the time being, despite repeated US violations. He warned this could change, however.

Iran has repeatedly sought redress for violations to mediators of the deal, but the US has continued to reimpose sanctions they removed under the deal, coming up with new pretexts, usually pretexts very light on details. Rouhani warned that if this continues, Iran might be forced to quit the nuclear deal.

Rouhani said US actions prove they can’t be trusted to deal fairly over the pact. Iran’s parliament, particularly the hardliners, are pressuring him to make some sort of reaction, and this is likely Rouhani’s attempt to warn the other five signatories that the deal could be at risk.

This is all likely according to plan for the US, as President Trump has ordered his cabinet to come up with some justification for declaring Iran in violation of the pact within the next several months, so he can use it as an excuse to withdraw from the deal. With Trump openly looking for an out, provoking Iran into quitting first would be his best-case scenario, allowing him to claim it wasn’t his fault.