Rouhani responds to U.S. sanctions

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani issued a direct threat to the West on Tuesday, claiming his country is capable of revitalising its nuclear programme within hours and quickly bringing it to even more advanced levels than when Iran reached a deal with world powers that limited its ability to produce nuclear weapons.

Mr. Rouhani’s comments are seen as a direct response to the new U.S. legislation earlier this month that imposed mandatory penalties on people involved in Iran’s ballistic missile programme and anyone who does business with them.

If Washington continues with “threats and sanctions” against Iran, Mr. Rouhani said in Parliament on Tuesday, Tehran could easily restart the nuclear programme.

“In an hour and a day, Iran could return to a more advanced (nuclear) level than at the beginning of the negotiations” that preceded the 2015 deal, Mr. Rouhani said. He did not elaborate.

It was not immediately clear what Mr. Rouhani was referring to and whether he meant Iran could restart centrifuges enriching uranium to higher and more dangerous levels.

But Mr. Rouhani also tempered his own threat, adding that Iran seeks to remain loyal to its commitments under the nuclear deal, which opened a “path of cooperation and confidence-building” with the world.

“The deal was a model of the victory of peace and diplomacy over war and unilateralism,” said Mr. Rouhani. “It was Iran’s preference, but it was not and will not remain Iran’s only option.”