Donald Trump: I am ready to meet with the Iranians without any preconditions
On Monday, August 28, the US President once again announced his readiness to meet with Iranian leaders and said that he had "no preconditions" in this regard.
Donald Trump made these remarks at a joint news conference with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, in response to a question about whether he would be willing to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
He said: "I am certainly ready" to meet with the Iranian president if he is willing to do so, and that the meeting would be "without any preconditions."
Islamic Republic officials had previously repeatedly rejected offers to negotiate with the United States.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi on Monday denied reports that the Omani Foreign Minister's visit to Washington was aimed at mediating between Iran and the United States, saying, "With this America and the policies it has adopted, there will definitely be no possibility of interaction and dialogue."
The US President said: "I would certainly like to meet with the Iranians if they want to. I don't know if they are ready to do that right now. I ended the deal with Iran. It was a ridiculous deal. I believe they probably want to meet and I am ready to meet with them anytime they want to."
He added that he believes in holding the meeting, noting the benefits of his recent meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mr. Trump also warned that Iran "will never be allowed" to obtain nuclear weapons.
On May 8 of this year, he withdrew the United States from the nuclear agreement with Iran, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and said that he would restore Washington's sanctions on Tehran.
At the same time, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, in a sharp reaction to the US President's action, said: "The Iranian nation stands strong, and they [the previous presidents] died and their bones rotted, and the Islamic Republic still exists. This gentleman will also turn to dust, and his body will become food for snakes and ants, and the Islamic Republic will still stand."
The presidents of the two countries have intensified their war of words against each other in recent weeks.
After Hassan Rouhani described war with Iran as the "mother of wars" and peace with Iran as the "mother of peace," Mr. Trump warned him to "never threaten America again."
Meanwhile, US National Security Advisor John Bolton said: "I spoke with the President [Trump] in the last few days and he told me that if Iran takes any negative action, it will pay a price that countries have paid recently."
In June of this year, more than a hundred political and civil activists inside and outside Iran issued a statement calling for "direct negotiations without any preconditions" between Iran and the United States, citing the "global" reception of the US President's meeting with the North Korean leader and the "dangerous situation in the region."
Figures and media outlets close to the fundamentalists strongly attacked this proposal and accused the signatories of "treason."
Source: Radio Farda
