Iran Not Even Thinking of Negotiation with US: Spokesman
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi rejected the possibility of dialogue between Tehran and Washington in the near future and said such a negotiation is not on the Islamic Republic’s agenda for now.
Speaking to reporters at his weekly press conference in Tehran on Monday, Qassemi referred to Iran’s preconditions for returning to the negotiating table with the US and said if they were met, such talks would not be impossible.
However, he said, “We do not think of negotiations with the US at all in the current situation and the conditions that (US President Donald) Trump has created,” adding that this issue is not on Iran’s agenda for now.
He further pointed to the continued talks between Iran and the remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and expressed hope that the foreign ministers of the countries would meet on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings later this month.
In relevant remarks on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had also rejected direct talks with the Trump administration.
Iran would only think about talks with the United States if the US returned to the nuclear deal, Zarif told the German news magazine Der Spiegel.
The comments come as Trump has voiced willingness to meet with Iran's leadership, without preconditions, "whenever they want."
"I would certainly meet with Iran if they wanted to meet," Trump said at the White House on July 30.
Back in May, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei decried both the previous and current US administrations for reneging on their promises and threatening the Islamic Republic, saying that’s why Iran does not negotiate and interact with the US.
On May 8, Trump pulled his country out of the JCPOA, which was achieved in 2015 after years of negotiations between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).