TEHRAN, Aug 6, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on
Tuesday that Tehran favours talks with Washington but the United States must
first lift sanctions it imposed on the Islamic republic.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran favours talks and negotiations and, if the
US really wants to talk, before anything else it should lift all sanctions,”
Rouhani said in remarks aired live on state television.
Rouhani, speaking at the foreign ministry after meeting with his top
diplomat, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said Iran was ready for talks regardless of
whether or not the US was party to a landmark nuclear deal.
“Whether they want to come into the JCPOA or not, it’s up to them,” said
Rouhani, referring to the 2015 nuclear deal known formally as the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The Iranian foreign minister on Monday confirmed reports that he had
turned down an offer from a US senator to meet President Donald Trump at the
White House.
Tensions between Iran and its arch-foe the United States have soared since
Trump announced last year that the US was withdrawing from the deal and began
reimposing sanctions against the Islamic republic.
The nuclear deal set limits on Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for
the removal of punitive economic sanctions.