World News
GENEVA (Reuters) – The United States sent out a message to European leaders that it was prepared to raise all sanctions on Iran, according to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who stated he had actually declined talks with Washington while punitive U.S. sanctions stayed in place.
FILE IMAGE: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani gestures at the conclusion of his address to the 69 th United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations Head Office in New York City, September 25,2014 REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Picture
Rouhani, speaking on his return from the United Nations General Assembly in New York said Germany, Britain and France had actually insisted on a joint conference with U.S. authorities.
” The German chancellor, the prime minister of Britain and the president of France were in New York City and all insisted that this meeting take location and America says that it will lift the sanctions,” Rouhani said, according to his official site.
” It was up for dispute what sanctions will be raised and they ( the United States) had actually stated plainly that we will raise all sanctions,” his website estimated him as stating.
U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted on Friday that he had actually rejected Iran’s request to raise sanctions.
“Iran wanted me to raise the sanctions imposed on them in order to fulfill. I said, of course, NO!” he wrote.
According to Rouhani, France and Britain pushed him to meet Trump, with French President Emmanuel Macron cautioning him it would be a lost opportunity if he did not. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested the Iranian leader must start.
Iran has actually ruled out bilateral talks with the United States unless it returns to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, abandoned by Trump last year, and eases the debilitating economic sanctions that he has because enforced on the Islamic Republic.
Iran was prepared for negotiations however not in an environment of sanctions and pressure, Rouhani stated.
Rouhani did not fulfill Trump in New York and European and Gulf authorities expect Washington to keep tightening the vice on Iran’s economy.
The United States and Iran are at odds over a host of concerns, consisting of the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, U.S. accusations – rejected by Tehran – that Iran attacked 2 Saudi oil centers on Sept. 14, and Iran’s detention of U.S. citizens on what the United States regards as spurious grounds.
Reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Angus MacSwan, Jon Boyle and Michael Georgy
