Led by President Hassan Rouhani, Iran has quickly tried to rally international support against Donald Trump’s declaration of a US confrontation with Tehran.

Restrained by advisors, Trump did not announce an American withdrawal from the July 2015 nuclear deal. However, in a speech long on rhetoric if short on strategy, he denounced the agreement as he “decertified” Iranian compliance and said the US would now challenge the Islamic Republic across the Middle East.

See Podcasts: Trump Declares All-Out Confrontation with Iran
VideoCast: What Happens When Trump Decertifies Iran Nuclear Deal?

Rouhani replied in a televised speech moments after Trump left the podium: “Mr. Trump’s remarks on Iran…contained nothing but expletives and a pile of delusional allegations against the Iranian nation.”

The Iranian President combined his appeal to international opinion, noting the repeated verifications of Iranian compliance by the International Atomic Energy Agency, with a jab at Trump’s labelling of the Persian Gulf as the “Arabian Gulf”.

How [is it possible] that a president has not yet learned the name of the world-renowned and historical Persian Gulf…where unfortunately US warships unnecessarily and repeatedly sail through? He could have at least asked his military officials how the name of this gulf is printed on the maps they use.

He has to study history better and more closely and know what they have done to the Iranian people over the past 60-something years [since the US-backed coup of 1953] and how they have treated the people of Iran during the past 40 years after the victory of the [1979] Revolution.

Reaffirming that Iran will not renegotiate the nuclear deal, Rouhani said, “[Trump] apparently does not know that this is not a bilateral document between Iran and the US for him to act in any way he wishes.”

He continued, “Iran will honor its commitments as long as its interests are served. However, if one day our interests are not served, we will not hesitate even one moment and will respond. The Iranian nation has not yielded to any power and will not do so in the future.”

Rouhani referred specifically to Trump’s announcement of US sanctions on the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. While the Iranian President has been locked in a struggle with the Guards over political and economic issues, Washington’s threats have prompted Rouhani’s strident proclamation of support in recent days.

See Iran Daily, Oct 12: As US Sanctions Near, Rouhani Backs Revolutionary Guards

Rouhani said on Friday, “The IRGC is a powerful force and the people are always standing by the IRGC. Is it the IRGC that is corrupt or governments and armed forces who have always intervened in this region against the independence of nations?”

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif used Twitter for his reply:

Marking his shift from the centrist who led nuclear negotiations to a protagonist in a regional battle with the US and some Arab States, Zarif asserted, “No wonder supporters of Trump’s inane Iran speech are those bastions of democracy in the Persian Gulf: KSA [Saudi Arabia], UAE, & Bahrain.”

Iran Military: We Will Counter US “Corrupt Regime”

With the US seeking limits on its ballistic missile program as well as sanctioning the IRGC, Iran’s military responded with defiance.

The deputy chief of staff, Brig. Gen. Massoud Jazayeri, said:

On behalf of the Armed Forces and the entire prudent people of the Islamic Iran, we tell the corrupt and rogue US government that the trend toward the boosting of Iran’s defensive power in order to counter America’s corrupt regime will continue unabated and with more motivation and determination.

The general maintained, “The IRGC is today more powerfully disrupting US leaders’ filthy schemes one after another, and on the rest of this path, many things remain unsaid, [but] the Trump administration will see their outward manifestations all in good time.”

European Leaders Back Deal

European leaders as well as Russia and China unanimously backed the nuclear deal in response to Trump’s statement.

The European Union’s Federica Mogherini called the agreement the “pillar of non-proliferation” and said “no single country can terminate it”:

The “European 3″ among the 5+1 Powers — Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, and President Emmanuel Macron of France — issued a a joint statement that they “stand committed” to the deal and that preserving it is “in our shared national security interest”:

The nuclear deal was the culmination of 13 years of diplomacy and was a major step towards ensuring that Iran’s nuclear program is not diverted for military purposes.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s foreign minister, went farther by criticizing Trump for “a difficult and also, from our point of view, dangerous signal”: “Destroying this agreement would, worldwide, mean that others could no longer rely on such agreements — that’s why it is a danger that goes further than Iran.”