In an interview with NBC News, the secretary of Iran’s supreme national security council, Ali Shamkhani, said Iran should not have signed the landmark nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

In the interview that was released on Monday, Shamkhani mentioned Trump’s rejection of the deal and stated that there were some in Iran who believed signing the JCPOA was a mistake, claiming he was among those people.

He also criticized the United States’ decision to exit the deal after “the success of JCPOA negotiations”.

Shamkhani also claimed that the US maximum pressure campaign is aimed at forcing Iran to surrender, and not to return to the negotiation table.

Regarding the effects of the sanctions, Shamkhani said: “Take a walk in the streets of Tehran to see how vibrant our people are, and you will realize how America has failed to achieve its goals.”

He added that Iran does not care who the president of the United States is, and whether Trump will be reelected or not.

Despite many calls for the annihilation of Israel by the supreme leader and numerous officials of the Islamic Republic, Shamkhani claimed that he does not wish for the destruction of Israel through war, saying: “The Palestinian people will decide on the fate of Israel.”

Regarding the possibility of military conflict between Iran and America, Shamkhani stated that the Islamic Republic has various tools including “proxy war” at its disposal, and the United States and its allies will be in “terrible conditions”.