Its liz30am. Now on bbc news, hardtalk. Welcome to hardtalk, with me Zeinab Badawi in new york. My guest in this rare interview is the foreign ministerfor iran, javad zarif, whos on a visit here. Tensions between iran and the us have been on a historic high. President trump said he was ten minutes away from war with iran following tensions in the gulf. Can they save the Historic Nuclear Deal after President Trump unilaterally withdrew from it . Foreign ministerjavad zarif, welcome to hardtalk. The British Foreign secretary, jeremy hunt, says there is a small but closing window to save the nuclear deal agreed in 2015 between iran and the world powers. Is he right . I think he is right, but it requires committed determination on all sides to save this deal. Iran has done its part of the deal and it is necessary for the rest of the world, and the europeans to also take action. Theyve made very nice statements, but statements do not provide economic benefits for iran. Lets me just tell you what leaked documents tell us about at least the uks position about withdrawal from the deal last year, so kim darroch, who stepped down as ambassador to washington, said donald trump has an incoherent and chaotic approach to iran, engaging in diplomatic vandalism because it was president obamas deal. What extent have these leaks affected the dynamics in all of this . Has it made iran feel encouraged to try and exploit differences between the us and europe . We believed that this deal is in the international communitys interest, it doesnt matter whether the Previous Administration in the United States negotiated this deal, this is a deal that was negotiated by the United States. As you know, in the international community, you dont recognise this or the other government, you recognise the country and the government of that country. We did recognise this with the government of the United States and they should abide by their commitment. There wasnt a revolution in the us, last i checked, so i believe it is for President Trump, the best deal possible. I believe President Trump is being advised by people who are not interested in promoting peace, but interested in advancing an agenda that theyve had. Just sticking with the european point, do you feel emboldened now to try to exploit the differences between europe and the us . I mean, the europeans have said consistently it was a matter of huge regret that the United States withdrew unilaterally from the nuclear deal. I believe its important to make that statement but at the same time its important to basically invest in what europeans believe is a security document for them and is a Security Agreement for them. You cannot make any gains without basically making the necessary investment and i think that is what is lacking. We have invested in the nuclear deal, more than talk. We have done things on the ground. The europeans are not prepared to do things on the ground. They are willing to make statements. Like what . Like purchasing our oil. The us sanctions on iran, the europeans cannot buy american oil. Its going to affect their companies. If the europeans, the chinese, the japanese, all of them do not allow the United States to bully them into abiding by its decisions, with the United States be able to destroy the Global Economy and put sanctions on all of them . Shall, total, any opec . In this regard, this demand by the United States, which is illegal, unlawful. A top adviser says the deal could be saved if there was us compliance but this is not a likely proposition. Us advisor on policy. So the europeans position is to try and strengthen what they call this framework called instex which the sanctions could to some extent be circumvented, allowing iran to receive humanitarian aid and medicines which are exempt under the us sanctions. You want to accept us predominance in the Global Economy, even to your own detriment . Unfortunately this is what they are saying and i dont think in this way they can resolve this crisis or any crisis. The europeans and the rest of the Global Community are Strong Enough to withstand this. There is no need to try and circumvent it. But, if they want to circumvent it through istex, we have to see whether if there is any actual benefit for the iranian people. You see, people are dying from cancer. Kids are dying from tb. People are dying from ms, because there is a very limited area of pharmaceuticals that we cannot produce in iran and the United States says they are exempt, but, Financial Transactions in order to purchase them are not exempt. Yes, they are exempt. Of course, the americans say they are exempt, but they are not. Youve given the european 60 days again until early to september to try and come up with some kind of way to mitigate this impact of sanctions on the iranian. We havent given them any ultimatums, what we did, for an entire year, they asked us for a few weeks. We gave them about 60 weeks. And then we started, based on the agreement, not outside the agreement, United States has walked out of the agreement, we used the mechanism within the agreement in order to show them that they need to come back to the agreement and implement it. We are giving anyone any ultimatums, were just implementing what we told them very transparently, that these will be the steps that we will take. Under the nuclear deal, iran is only allowed to enrich its uranium to 3. 67, we now know that you are enriching uranium beyond that to around 4. 5. So, why do this . It doesnt help the europeans make your case, does it, to the americans . We implemented the agreement fully, the iea made 15 reports from the beginning, five of them after the us withdrawal and all of them indicated iran was revealing its commitments fully. Unfortunately, the europeans could not take advantage of these and just racked their feet. It wont happen again. You know, iran is a country with an old civilisation. For us, the dignity of our people is extremely important. But why enrich the uranium, foreign minister, president rouhani said our enrichment levels will be no long be 3. 67, we will increase to as much as necessary and as much as we need. The europeans know partial compliance is unacceptable. The europeans cannot say parcel compliance whether it is acceptable or not, it is the deal itself. Paragraph 36 of the deal says iran will decide if we are not satisfied with the implementation of the deal by the other side, we can take some measures within the deal. That is in order to keep the deal surviving, to keep it from going totally dead. So, will you continue to enrich levels of uranium . This deal was written based on total mistrust. Neither side trusted the other side. That is why we put everything in black and white. Very clearly stated that if we dont comply, what they can take. If we are the initial breakers of the deal, they can take measures. If they are the initial breakers of the deal, they can also take measures. All right. So youve got to allay fears, havent you, foreign minister . The iranians, according the British Foreign secretary, jeremy hunt, he has said that iran is a year away from developing a nuclear bomb. If iran wanted to build a bomb, we could have built a bomb a long time ago. We could have built a bomb a long time ago. We dont want to build a bomb because we believe a nuclear bomb will not augment our security. But, if the europeans are serious about a Nuclear Weapons free middle east, there is somewhere else they need to be looking. And that is israel, where they have at least 200 nuclear warheads. President trump said quite recently he was ten minutes away from war with iran over the shooting down of the unmanned us drone over what americans says was International Waters and what the french president , emanuel macron, agrees with. Do you accept that the us doesnt want war . I accept that President Trump doesnt want war, but i know there are people in his administration who are crazy for war, who thirst for war. John bolton, the National Security advisor. I dont think i need to mention President Trump, i think he has mentioned them himself. How likely do you think engagement with iran and america is . Its called the persian gulf for a reason. We have is 1,500 miles of coast with the persian gulf. Its not the gulf of mexico. We are protecting our territorial waters and if this drone had been shot in International Waters, over international airspace, why did we have to pick up the pieces . All right. So, well, as i told you, the americans and supported by president macron, it happened over International Waters. Were they there . Thats what we told them, were you there . We were there. Tensions in the gulf, weve seen recent tensions about the norwegian and japanese registered oil tankers which you have said iran had nothing to do with, the attacks on those tankers. But the suspicion is by the United States and the United Kingdom and others that iran was involved. And weve also seen the recent tensions between britain and iran over the seizure of grace 1, your vessel, what do you think the possibility of you stumbling into an accidental war in the gulf are . Well, again, its the persian gulf because its next to our borders. Its a body of water that iran has protected, iran has maintained the security of freedom of navigation in the persian gulf and the strait of hormuz for millennia and we will continue to do that. We are a major power in that region. Those who have come to our region have not, those who have come to the persian gulf and brought their naval vessels to the persian gulf are not helping secure this body of waters. What do you think is the possibility or the likelihood of stumbling into some conflict . Of course there is. Of course there is a possibility of an accident but we cannot leave our own neighbourhood. Those outside have to decide why are they in that neighbourhood and whether their presence in the neighbourhood is helping stability and security in that neighbourhood. How high do you think the possibility of an accidental war is . As President Trump has said, ten minutes away from war because, had they taken measures against iran, President Trump had been told that iran would be taking measures in self defence. What kind of measures would you have taken . Well, im not a military man so ill leave that to the military. Well, weve heard statements from iranians authorities that there would be attacks on allies such as saudi arabia and dubai if there were any military action. We dont take blind action. Anybody who is helping the United States and its war against iraq, United States is engaging and economic waragainst iran. There are other countries with logistical support, reconnaissance, that means they are participating in the war. So that could happen . You could target allies . Us allies in the gulf . If there is a war, then i do not think anybody would be safe in our region. But let us all try to avoid war, we dont need a war. Weve gone through eight years of war, a war that was imposed on us with the help of everybody. But why not de escalate the situation . For example, the grace 1, which has been seized by British Naval authorities. You have had a conversation with British Foreign secretary jeremy hunt, and he said to you look, this vessel could be freed if its not bound for syria. It is that kind of action that the west find provocative. Its piracy, plain and simple. But there are eu sanctions against selling oil to syria. First of all, there are eu sanctions against buying syrian oil, not against selling oil to syria. One. Second. Going through eu. Sorry, there are eu sanctions against selling oil to syria for european countries. From european countries, iran is not a european country. But you are going near gibraltar, which is part of the eu. No, no, no. Thats part of International Shipping lanes, we were going through that. But, we announced from the very beginning that this ship was not destined for syria. Where was it going then . I am not suppose to tell not obliged to tell anybody, this is International Freedom of navigation. There was oil on the tanker, obviously. Iranian oil. We know that. Iranian oil, but you wont say where it is going. The tanker is not iranian, it was carrying iranian oil which we had sold, and it was going to a place in the mediterranean other than syria. We made it clear. You know that we are under sanctions from the United States, their objective is to bring our oil sales to zero. That is why we will do whatever we can to avoid the United States knowing what we are doing. So, was it going on to turkey perhaps . One more thing. The United Kingdom, by taking ourship, by confiscating our ship, is helping the us imposing its illegal Oil Sanctions against iran. Its nothing about eu sanctions against syria, its about iran. That is whyjohn bolton thanked Great Britain for giving them the best fourth ofjuly present possible. So you think britain is doing americas bidding . If the uk wants to serve us interests, they should not be talking about trying to preserve jcp oil. All right, but the fact of the matter, as i said, is that your issue over the nuclear deal is with the United States. Why not renegotiate . You have said. Why should we renegotiate . Well, president rouhani said just a few days ago that if the sanctions are lifted then if you avert the sanctions iran will return to the negotiating table. We did not leave the negotiation table, it was the us who left the negotiation table. He said, revert your sanctions and they will return. They have to return to the negotiation table. But does that mean you will renegotiate . We will not renegotiate. But why not . You see, this deal was the subject of 12 years of negotiations, two years of which were intense negotiations. I spent days, months, negotiating this. We spent a lot of time with the United States negotiating this deal, its about give and take. But youve got to break the deadlock, foreign minister. If you allow a bully to bully you into accepting one thing, you will encourage him to bully you into accepting other things. All right. We negotiated this deal, we did what we were supposed to do, the us did not do what it was supposed to do. Sure, youve made that point. The United States is working on the policy line that whats mine is mine, whats yours is negotiable. All right, but how do you break the deadlock, though . Mike pompeo, the us secretary of state, has set out some clear issues that he wants addressed as part of any, in the americas view, future nuclear deal. The way iran, they say, and britain and the eu support them, destabilising influence through your support for hezbollah, in lebanon to the tune of 700 million a year, the Houthi Rebels in yemen, the bahrainis complain about your support for Anti Government movements there i could go on and on. And you can say that you are not doing any of this, but the americans believe this. How do you go back to the table, discuss these things, and say look, youre accusing us unfairly. How do you go back to the table and reopen these issues . You see, the problem is they left the table, and they are the ones who are supposed to come back to the table by starting to basically fulfil their own obligations. But lets just address the questions that you just raised. Did we support Saddam Hussein when he attacked iran . Did we support isis . I mean, President Trump himself said iran is fighting isis. Are we bombing the yemenis . Did we invade yemen . Did we was it iran that basically arrested the Prime Minister of lebanon and kept him in prison for three weeks . Sure, but where does this take you, foreign minister . If the United States is looking for those responsible for malign behaviour in the region, they the United States needs to look at its own allies. Are we even present. Talk to them about this and say, we will reopen negotiations with a new nuclear deal and meet them and talk about this. President trump has said that i am not engaged in military war against iran, i am engaged in economic war against iran. What does it mean to be engaged in economic war . Economic war targets civilians. Military war targets military personnel, and civilians are sometimes collateral damage. But an economic war targets civilians. Secretary pompeo has said, we want the iranian people to change their government. So, putting these two together, that means the United States is terrorising iranian people in order to achieve political objectives. Thats the classical definition of terrorism. The americans have said consistently, mike pompeo has said that their goal is not regime change, we want to change irans behaviour so that it behaves like a normal country, that is what he has said. Mike pompeo iran is a normal country, the us is not a normal country. Which of normal country violates every International Agreement . Imf, nafta, the paris climate convention, unesco, the Human Rights Council is that what you call normal . Let me put to you, though, you say your country is suffering from the sanctions. When you give organisations like hezbollah hundreds of millions of dollars. Who said we gave them hundreds of millions of dollars . That is what mike pompeo said. Mike pompeo. Mike pompeo may like to make statements. You see, mike pompeos allies in our region, saudi arabia, spent 67 billion a year on military equipment. They are bombing the yemenis, are we doing that . We only spent 16 billion last year on the entire military budget. There is the case of the woman Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe, who has been in prison for three years in iran. You have said that you are sorry shes in prison, separated from her daughter, and you have talked about in the past of a possible prisoner swap between the us, which is keeping some iranian prisoners as well as a woman in australia. You have said that nazanin has gone through due process of law in iran and so forth, but can i ask you this could she be released soon on compassionate grounds . You see, thats not a decision for me to take, but it is an ideal situation for which i have tried and will continue to try. Compassionate grounds . Compassionate grounds. Lets put it this way. She went through the Legal Process we have people in europe who are being extradited to the United States for violating the sanctions that europe does not recognise, that europe does not recognise true. I was just asking about Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe, because her health is suffering and it is of great concern to herfamily, she went on a hunger strike. I am not happy to see a Single Person in prison and i will do my best to address that. To the maximum of my capacity and my capability. But as foreign minister, i am responsible for the conduct of Foreign Affairs of the country and she is an iranian citizen. Finally and briefly, what would it take to find a way out of this impasse . Some kind of face saving deal for both you and iran and the americans to give some impetus and progress to the deadlock we have now . Well, we dont have to have a deadlock, we do not want to embarrass anybody, we believe all we want is what we negotiated and implemented, and then we can go even further. I believe our region has enough real problems, we dont want imaginary problems. Could you renegotiate the deal from scratch with the americans . Nobody can. If you have a wave of new sanctions. If you let me tell you. I negotiated this deal. I know it is impossible to get a better deal. I know that anybody who was involved, anybody who was in the room will tell you that it is impossible to get a better deal. Even if you could sell some oil to china and india . If there was a waiver that allowed you to do that, would that be a step forward . We will continue to sell our oil, but we will not sell our dignity. Foreign ministerjavad zarif, thank you very much for coming on hardtalk. Good to be with you. Hello again. Well, its true to say that weather doesnt just stop at the countrys borders. If we take a look at what happened on sunday here in the uk, south east england we had some rather grey, boring skies. A bit of rain around, we had some cold air brought in by the jetstream that reactivated an old weather front to bring that wet weather. Just a day later, that area of cold air had reached the warm waters of the mediterranean, generating thunderstorms and a waterspout in bastia in corsica. And here we had 137mm falling in one day. Thats 13 times the amount of rain they would normally see in the whole month ofjuly falling in one day. Right now, severe thunderstorms battering parts of greece. A red weather warning in place for much of the country, damaging wind gusts and large hail and risk of flash flooding lasting well into wednesday. Elsewhere, weve got High Pressure holding onto the south east of the uk, but weve got low pressure spinning in off the atlantic, and increasingly over the next few hours, we are going to see rain turning heavier and steadier in northern ireland, and theyre turning quite damp as well in western scotland. But otherwise, its a dry start to the day. Temperatures 10 15 degrees. Should see some early sunshine for eastern scotland and northern england. Through the rest of the day, it will turn wet across western fringes of england in one, the rain getting into scotland, cooler air across the north and west of the country. Some with some warm sunshine, though, for the south east. Its here well see highest temperatures of 26 degrees. The rain could be very slow to clear, but eventually we will get there, and some sunshine follows. Then for thursday, its a day of heavy showers moving into the north and west of the country. On into fridays forecast, weve got another area of low pressure swinging in off the atlantic, and this again will bring some wet weather across northern ireland, western parts of england and wales, and perhaps into southern parts of scotland. So many of us will see some rain at some point in the day. Temperatures a little bit below par for the time of year, 18 21 for most of us. And then as we head into the weekend, that area of low pressure clears through. Were going to see further troughing bringing further showers and rain. But the exact track of those systems open to doubt. We could see some rain around as we head into the weekend. Thats your weather. This is the briefing, im sally bundock. Our top story the house of representatives votes to condemn President Trumps racist tweets, as emotions run high on capitol hill. After days of wrangling, germanys ursula von der leyen is elected to lead the european commission, iama i am a proud naturalised citizen born in india. A proud patriot, a proud person who belongs in this country and this is not the first time ive heard go back to your own country but its the first time ive heard it coming from the white house. After days of wrangling, germanys ursula von der leyen is elected to lead the european commission, the eus topjob. And more on the the story of safa and marwa from pakistan, born joined at the head, as doctors in london