Iran is determined to reject demands by U.S. President Donald Trump for changes to its nuclear accord, which amount to bullying, a senior Iranian security official said on Saturday.
Trump has said that unless European allies rectify "flaws" in Tehran's 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers by May 12 he will refuse to extend U.S. sanctions relief for Iran.
"This is an international agreement ... and we certainly have the capacity to defeat your bullying," Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said in remarks broadcast on state television.
"You are saying that you do not accept something that was set up under the last president and it should be changed," Shamkhani said, addressing Trump. "Who, then, guarantees that if something is done with you, the next president won't come and refuse to accept it?"
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insist that the nuclear deal signed with Iran has major shortcomings and will not prevent Tehran obtaining nuclear weapons in the future.
They also say that Iran's meddling in Syria and other regional countries shows that the Islamic Republic cannot be trusted and poses a danger to others.
In recent weeks a host of Iranian officials and lawmakers have reiterated that the Islamic Republic will refuse to make changes to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, known as JCPOA.
Shamkhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif have repeated Iran's position several times.