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News > Iran

Iran Rejects Peace Talks With US Until Sanctions Are Lifted

  • Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is seen during a meeting with tribal leaders in Kerbala, Iraq, March 12, 2019.

    Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is seen during a meeting with tribal leaders in Kerbala, Iraq, March 12, 2019. | Photo: Reuters

Published 27 August 2019
Opinion

Tensions between Iran and the United States have been at a decade-long high after Washington intensified their sanctions against Tehran and encouraged the seizure of the Grace 1 oil tanker. 

The Islamic Republic of Iran will not hold talks with the United States until Washington lifts all sanctions against Tehran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday, a day after President Donald Trump said he would meet his Iranian counterpart to try to end a nuclear standoff.

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According to Rouhani, “Washington has the key for positive change ... So take the first step ... Without this step, this lock will not be unlocked."

Rouhani said Iran was always ready to hold talks. “But first the U.S. should act by lifting all illegal, unjust and unfair sanctions imposed on Iran,” he said in a speech broadcast live on state TV.

Trump said on Monday he would meet Iran’s president under the right circumstances to end a confrontation that began when Washington pulled out of Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six powers and reimposed sanctions on the country. Trump also said talks were under way to see how countries could open credit lines to keep Iran’s economy afloat.

Speaking at a G7 summit in the French resort of Biarritz, Trump ruled out lifting economic sanctions to compensate for losses suffered by Iran.

European parties to the deal have struggled to calm the deepening confrontation between Iran and the United States since Trump pulled Washington out last year.

French President Emmanuel Macron has led efforts to defuse tensions and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif flew in to the Biarritz G7 meeting unexpectedly on Sunday for side talks with French officials.

Since ditching the deal last year, Trump has pursued a policy of “maximum pressure” to try to force Iran into broader talks to restrict its ballistic missile program and end its support for proxy forces around the Middle East.

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