Iran Rules Out Rouhani-Trump Meeting at UN
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson dismissed the possibility of a meeting between President Hassan Rouhani and his US counterpart Donald Trump on the sidelines of the upcoming UN General Assembly.
Speaking to reporters at a weekly press conference in Tehran on Monday, Abbas Mousavi ruled out a meeting between Rouhani and Trump, as the Iranian president is going to travel to New York for the annual UN General Assembly meeting.
“I do not confirm such a meeting. This meeting is not on our agenda, and I don’t think it would take place in New York either,” the spokesman stressed.
He also echoed Rouhani’s remarks that Iranians would not hold a meeting to be photographed, but look for a definite agenda and tangible results at any meeting.
“As we have already announced, the Americans will be allowed to return to the (JCPOA) Joint Commission meeting and say what they have in mind if they return to the JCPOA and abandon economic terrorism (against Iran),” Mousavi added.
The spokesperson also said that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will be accompanying Rouhani in the 74th meeting of the UN General Assembly.
In comments on Sunday, White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said the recent attacks on Saudi oil facilities, which the US has blamed on Iran, “did not help” prospects for a possible meeting between the Iranian and US presidents at the UN, but she left open the possibility it could happen.
Tehran has rejected the claim made by the US secretary of state and an America senator that it has led Saturday drone strikes on Saudi oil installations, saying the allegation was part of Washington’s new policy of “maximum falsification”.