Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned that his country would react strongly to any "wrong move" by the United States on the 2015 nuclear deal.
"The Iranian nation is standing firm and any wrong move by the domineering regime regarding the [nuclear agreement] will face the reaction of the Islamic republic," state-controlled media quoted Khamenei as saying on September 17.
Washington last week extended some sanctions relief that was granted under the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers under which Iran has significantly limited its controversial nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
The State Department announced on September 14 that it will continue to waive sanctions on Iran as part of the nuclear agreement, but no decision had yet been made on whether to preserve the deal itself.
The U.S. administration has frequently charged that Tehran breaks the "spirit" of the deal by continuing to test-launch ballistic missiles and rockets capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
"Today, despite all the commitments and discussions in the negotiations, America's attitude toward these negotiations and their outcome is completely unjust and amounts to bullying," Khamenei said in a speech to Iranian military graduates.
"The Americans should know that the Iranian people will stand firm on their honorable positions and on important issues related to national interests, there will be no retreat by the Islamic republic," Khamenei added.
The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, said earlier this month that his country wanted to adhere to the nuclear deal even if the United States withdrew.
"If the United States pulls out of the agreement, but the rest of the countries stay committed -- namely Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia -- then Iran would most probably stick with the commitments to the agreement without the U.S.," Salehi, who is also a vice president, told Spiegel Online on September 8.
President Hassan Rohani left on September 17 for the UN General Assembly in New York, where he is expected to hold talks on the nuclear deal.
