Iran nuclear deal: Khamenei denounces
Trump's ‘rants and whoppers’

The supreme leader of Iran has defended
the 2015 nuclear deal and used strong
language to accuse US President Donald
Trump of ranting and lying.
"I don't want to waste time on
answering the rants and whoppers of the
brute US president," Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei said.
Mr Trump has refused to certify to the US
Congress that Iran is complying with the
terms of the deal.
He has threatened to terminate the
Obama-era agreement altogether.
The American leader called for the deal to
be amended to prevent Iran from
developing nuclear weapons or
intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Ayatollah Khamenei said he welcomed
expressions of support for the accord
from European states but if the US tore
up the deal, Iran would "shred it to bits".
Trump hands Iran chalice to Congress
Trump's Iran deal speech: Full text
President Trump also accused Iran of
"destabilising activities" in Syria, Yemen
and Iraq, and imposed sanctions on the
powerful Islamic Revolution Guards
Corps.
Congress must now decide whether to
reimpose some economic sanctions that
were lifted as part of the nuclear deal in
return for Iran limiting sensitive nuclear
activities. If that were to happen, the US
would in effect be in violation of the
terms.
Iran says it has the right to nuclear
energy and insists its nuclear programme
is for peaceful purposes only.
On Wednesday, an Twitter account
attributed to Ayatollah Khamenei quoted
him as telling students in Tehran that it
was a "waste of time for anyone to
answer" Mr Trump.