Kerry: Ending Iran nuclear deal will worsen North Korea standoff

Former US Secretary of State warns that scrapping the 2015 nuclear accord will ruin international trust in the United States.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab

20 October, 2017

John Kerry warned that scrapping the nuclear deal is 'actually proliferation [Getty]

US President Donald Trump will worsen Washington's standoff with North Korea if he scraps the Iran nuclear deal, former Secretary of State John Kerry warned on Thursday.

Kerry, who worked on the nuclear accord as Secretary of State under Barack Obama's presidency, took shot at Trump's recent speech to the UN and his refusal to re-certify the deal.

"If you want to negotiate with (North Korean leader) Kim Jong Un, and your goal is to avoid war and try to be able to have a diplomatic resolution, the worst thing you can do is first threaten to destroy his country in the United Nations," Kerry said, referring to the president's hostile UN speech in which he described the North Korean leader as "rocket boy".

Kerry delivered his remarks in a private lecture at Geneva's Graduate Institute.

"And secondly, screw around with the deal that has already been made because the message is don't make a deal with the United States, they won't keep their word," he added.

Kerry also appeared to challenge Trump's assertion that Tehran is in breach of the accord, saying that the tight restrictions placed upon its nuclear programme as part of the deal ensure that "we would notice an uptick in their enrichment, like that."

He added that UN sanctions would then be placed on Iran, and that the US would have ample time to "bomb their facilities into submission."

On Wednesday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said that Tehran would uphold the deal as long as other signatories did the same. He warned, however, that Iran would "shred" the accord if Washington withdrew from the 2015 agreement.

While President Trump has refused to re-certify the deal, he has so far refrained from scrapping it entirely.

European nations, meanwhile, including France, Germany and the United Kingdom, have strongly argued for the continuation of the accord.

Kerry said on Thursday that discarding the landmark deal would lead Iran to take its missile programme underground.

"So the scenario that Trump opens up by saying 'let's get rid of the deal' is actually proliferation, far more damaging and dangerous," he said.