Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (L) and President Trump
Photo: Reuters
Iran dismisses talks with US
After special envoy Brian Hook says US wants to negotiate treaty including Tehran's ballistic missile program, regional behavior, Iran's FM Iranian Zarif rejects his characterization of 2015 deal as 'personal agreement'; Islamic Republic denies requesting meeting with Trump.
Iran hit back at a US offer of negotiations on Thursday, saying Washington had violated the terms of the last big deal they agreed, the 2015 nuclear accord.
US President Donald Trump pulled out of that nuclear accord—which curbed Iran's atomic activities in return for sanctions relief—in May, saying it did not go far enough.
President Hassan Rouhani (L) and US President Donald Trump (Photo: AFP, AP)
The US special envoy for Iran, Brian Hook, said on Wednesday that Washington now wanted to negotiate a treaty that included Tehran's ballistic missile program and its regional behavior.
Hook said the new deal that Washington hoped to sign with Iran, would not be a "personal agreement between two governments like the last one, we seek a treaty."
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif took to Twitter to dismiss the characterization of last deal as a "personal agreement", saying it was "an int'l accord enshrined in a UN (Security Council resolution)".
"US has violated its treaty obligations too... Apparently, US only mocks calls for peace," he added in the message that was attached to a video of a protester who took to the stage after Hook's speech, shouting that sanctions were hurting Iranian people.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (L) and President Trump (Photo: Reuters, AFP)
The five other world powers that signed the 2015 accord with Iran—France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia—have been trying to salvage it, saying it offers the best chance to stop Iran developing a nuclear bomb. Tehran says its nuclear work is for electricity generation and other peaceful purposes.
Iran denies requesting meeting with Trump
Iran has not requested a meeting with Trump, foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Friday, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
A foreign news agency reported that Iran requested such a meeting during the United Nations General Assembly which began this week, citing US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, according to IRNA.
IRNA did not identify the foreign news agency.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is scheduled to address the General Assembly next week, according to Iranian state media.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has never put forth a request for a meeting with Trump," Qassemi said.
