Iran demands EU guarantees

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday said that Tehran would quit the landmark 2015 nuclear deal unless European signatories offered solid guarantees that trade relations would continue after the US withdrawal.

Addressing Iran's government in a televised speech, Khamenei said: "We hear that you want to continue the nuclear deal with the three European countries. I don't have confidence in these three countries."

"If you don't succeed in obtaining a definitive guarantee -- and I really doubt that you can -- at that moment, we cannot continue like this," he said.

"If you want to conclude an agreement, obtain real guarantees, otherwise tomorrow they will do the same as the United States."

He was speaking a day after President Donald Trump announced the US was withdrawing from the deal, which had curbed Iran's atomic programme in exchange for sanctions relief.

The other parties -- Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia -- have opposed the move and indicated they wish to work with Tehran to preserve the accord.

Khamenei said Iran's government faced a big test to preserve "the dignity and the grandeur of the Iranian people".

He also warned against trusting foreign leaders.

"Their words have no value. Today they say one thing and tomorrow another. They have no shame," he said.

Despite his long-running mistrust of the US, Khamenei supported the deal when it was signed, even saying it could be the basis for further negotiations.

But he soon turned against the agreement when it became clear that many of its benefits were still being blocked by remaining US sanctions. He said last year that it should be torn up if Washington pulled out.

Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson yesterday urged the United States not to undermine the Iran nuclear deal it has just ditched and said Washington should "spell out" its plans for what comes next.

"I urge the US to avoid taking any action that would hinder other parties from continuing to make the agreement work," Johnson told parliament, adding that Britain had "no intention of walking away" from the deal, which remained "vital" to its national security.

"For as long as Britain abides by the agreement... then Britain will remain a party to the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action," he said.

"It's now up to Washington to come up with concrete proposals."

European leaders and key trading power China have vowed to save the 2015 accord, which lifted sanctions on Iran in return for it halting an alleged nuclear weapons programme and allowing international inspections.

Trump's national security advisor John Bolton said European firms doing business in Iran now have a six-month deadline to wind up investments or risk American sanctions.