DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s president mentioned Sunday that the Islamic Republic rejected direct negotiations with the USA over its quickly advancing nuclear program, providing Tehran’s first response to a letter that U.S. President Donald Trump despatched to the nation’s supreme chief.
President Masoud Pezeshkian mentioned Iran’s response, delivered through the sultanate of Oman, left open the potential of oblique negotiations with Washington. Nonetheless, such talks have made no progress since Trump in his first time period unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from Tehran’s nuclear take care of world powers in 2018.
Within the years since, regional tensions have boiled over into assaults at sea and on land. Then got here the Israel-Hamas warfare within the Gaza Strip, which noticed Israel goal militant group leaders throughout Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance.” Now, because the U.S. conducts airstrikes focusing on the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen, the danger of navy motion focusing on Iran’s nuclear program stays on the desk.
“We don’t avoid talks; it’s the breach of promises that has caused issues for us so far,” Pezeshkian mentioned in televised remarks throughout a Cupboard assembly. “They must prove that they can build trust.”
The U.S. State Division, responding to Pezeshkian, mentioned that “President Trump has been clear: the United States cannot allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.”
“If the Iranian regime does not want a deal, the president is clear, he will pursue other options,” it added.
Trump mentioned earlier than Pezeshkian’s feedback that he was contemplating navy motion and secondary tariffs if Iran doesn’t conform to a nuclear deal.
Pezeshkian was elected half a 12 months in the past after campaigning on a promise to reengage with the West.
