Iran to Show Resistance Until US Returns to Normality: President
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran will stick to the policy of resistance as long as the US does not behave normally and does not return to the agreement it has reneged on, President Hassan Rouhani said.
"The party who left the negotiating table and upended an agreement must come back to normal conditions," Rouhani said on Sunday, addressing a group of academics and physicians in Tehran.
Otherwise, he added, Iran is left with no choice but to show resistance.
"I declare as the representative of the Iranian nation that in this period, and for as long as the enemy does not regret its measures in the past, we have no way but to show resistance," Press TV quoted him as saying.
Rouhani said, however, that "if the enemy truly realizes it has taken a wrong and incorrect approach, then we can sit at the negotiating table and solve any issues.”
“The enemies sometimes say they have conditions for negotiations with Iran... but in recent weeks they said they have no conditions. They threatened us as if they were a military superpower, but now they say they do not seek a war,” the president added, describing the offer of talks with no preconditions as a sign of Iran's strength.
His comments came shortly after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo backed off from the 12-point list of “basic requirements” he had put forth as a prerequisite for a new deal with Iran, and said on Sunday that Washington was prepared for unconditional talks.
"We are prepared to engage in a conversation with no preconditions. We are ready to sit down with them," Pompeo said, addressing a news conference in Switzerland.
Pompeo also added that the United States would continue working to rein in what he called Iran's "malign activity."
In response, Iran described the offer as a game of words, and stressed that it expects a change in Washington's general approach toward the Iranian nation.