WASHINGTON (AA): U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran wantedsanctions lifted as a precondition to meeting during this week’s UN GeneralAssembly, a demand he says he rejected.
“Iran wanted me to lift the sanctions imposed on them in order to meet,”Trump said on Twitter. “I said, of course, NO!”
Speculation had been mounting that Trump could hold a sit-down with hisIranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, during the UN meetings as a steptoward reducing bilateral relations that have been at a fever pitch inrecent months.
But Trump returned Thursday to Washington without the meeting taking place.
His decision in May 2018 to withdraw the U.S. from an internationalagreement aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for billionsof dollars in relief from international sanctions set off a series ofactions that have included Washington reimposing sanctions it lifted aspart of the agreement.
The Trump administration has gone on to impose wave after wave of economicpenalties on Tehran, most recently targeting its central bank, as it seeksto bring Iran back to the negotiating table.
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Trump made the decision to leave the Iran deal despite objections from allother signatories who warned doing so would lead to increasingpossibilities of confrontation.
The remaining parties to the agreement said this week that are stillattempting to salvage the deal, though they acknowledged that it isbecoming increasingly difficult.
Iran has taken successive steps in violation of the agreement in a bid topressure the parties to provide it with the financial benefits it wassupposed to receive from the pact, but which have been thwarted by U.S.sanctions.
Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said steps Iran hastaken thus far are reversible, but called on the Islamic Republic to returnto full compliance as she said it is in the security interests of all, aswell as the economic interests of Iran.
