The president of Iran backed down Tuesday on possible talks with Donald Trump, saying that the president of the United States must first lift the sanctions imposed on Tehran, otherwise, a meeting between the two would be a simple photo shoot.
Hassan Rouhani's change of mind came a day after Trump said Monday that there is "a very good chance" that both are in their nuclear deadlock after a surprise intervention by French President Emmanuel Macron during the summit of the G-7 to try to bring Washington and Tehran together after decades of conflict.
"Without the US withdrawal of sanctions, we will not witness any positive development," Rouhani said in a televised speech on Tuesday, adding that Washington "has the key" to what will happen next.
"If someone intends to do it only as a photo shoot with Rouhani, that is not possible," he said.
Earlier on Monday, Rouhani expressed his willingness to negotiate a way out of the crisis after the US withdrawal of the nuclear agreement.
"If I knew that going to a meeting and visiting a person would help the development of my country and solve people's problems, I would not miss it," he said. “Even if the chances of success are not 90{7be40b84a6a43fc4fae13304fce9a2695859798abfc41afd127b9f8b21c5f9c5}, but 20{7be40b84a6a43fc4fae13304fce9a2695859798abfc41afd127b9f8b21c5f9c5} or 10{7be40b84a6a43fc4fae13304fce9a2695859798abfc41afd127b9f8b21c5f9c5}, we must move forward with that. We must not miss opportunities. ”
Rouhani also protected his Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, against the criticism of the intransigent for his surprise visit on Sunday to Biarritz in France, where the leaders of the rich democracies of the Group of Seven met.
English language of Iran Press TV issued a vague and anonymous statement on Monday, rejecting Macron's initiative.
Macron said he hoped Trump and Rouhani could meet in a matter of weeks in hopes of saving the 2015 nuclear deal that Tehran reached with the world powers, but that the United States unilaterally withdrew from last year. Under the agreement, Iran agreed to limit its uranium enrichment in exchange for lifting economic sanctions.
Since the US UU. Withdrew from the nuclear agreement, Iran has lost billions of dollars in trade agreements allowed by the agreement as the US. UU. He reimposed and intensified the sanctions that largely blocked Tehran to sell crude oil abroad, a crucial source of foreign exchange for the Islamic Republic.
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1501981/first-lift-sanctions-then-lets-talk-irans-rouhani-to-us
