Hopes of a deal with Trump quashed as Rouhani accuses US of ‘economic terrorism’
Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, has ruled out negotiations on its nuclear programme with the United States so long as sanctions remained in place and said he was not interested in a “memento photo” with Donald Trump.
“I would like to announce that our response to any negotiation under sanctions is negative,” Rouhani said in an address to the UN general assembly in New York.
Continue reading...President Hassan Rouhani says international forces should ‘stay away’ to de-escalate regional crisis
Iran has accused foreign powers of raising Gulf’s “insecurity”.
President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday denounced the presence of international powers in the Gulf, adding that Iran would propose a peace plan, after the US ordered reinforcements to the region.
Continue reading...Defence spokesman calls on ‘international community to hold Iran responsible’
Saudi Arabia has ramped up the pressure on Donald Trump to respond to a devastating strike on two major oil installations, displaying drone and missile technology it insisted showed the attack was “unquestionably sponsored by Iran”.
At a press conference in Riyadh a Saudi defence spokesman claimed that 25 drones and cruise missiles were used in the attack on the Aramco facilities on Saturday, saying repeatedly they had been fired from the north, the direction of Iran.
Continue reading...President Hassan Rouhani signals approval of firing of national security adviser
Iran’s president has urged the US to “put warmongers aside” as tensions roil the Persian Gulf amid an escalating crisis between Washington and Tehran after the collapsing nuclear deal with world powers.
Hassan Rouhani’s remarks signalled approval of Donald Trump’s abrupt dismissal of John Bolton as national security adviser. Bolton had been hawkish on Iran and other global challenges.
Continue reading...Tehran says gap is closing on views after phone conversation between Macron and Rouhani
Iran and France have moved closer in their views on the future of Tehran’s nuclear deal with the west after talks between the countries’ presidents, the Iranian government has said.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, spoke for two hours by telephone, a spokesman said, as Paris continued its diplomatic initiative to salvage the deal, which has been at risk of unravelling since the US withdrew last year.
Continue reading...Donald Trump’s offer to talk peace with Iran sent a shiver of alarm through Israel’s political and security establishment last week. With a too-close-to-call general election looming on 17 September, Benjamin Netanyahu is counting on his hardline anti-Tehran alliance with Washington – and fear of conflict – to win him crucial votes. A North Korea-style Trump tryst with Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, was the prime minister’s “ultimate horror scenario”, one analyst noted.
Yet after a recent series of escalatory strikes against Iran-linked forces in Iraq, Lebanon and Syria, Israel’s voters may reflect that if one thing is worse than peace with Iran, it’s war with Iran. Trump’s policy of “maximum pressure” on Tehran, strongly backed by Netanyahu and fellow Tel Aviv hawks, is placing Israel squarely in the firing line. The intensifying confrontation is also sucking in regional states, notably Iraq.
Continue reading...Hassan Rouhani says US must first lift sanctions before summit can take place
Iran’s president has back-pedalled on possible talks with Donald Trump, saying the US president must first lift sanctions imposed on Tehran, otherwise a meeting between the two would be a mere photo op.
Hassan Rouhani’s change of heart came a day after Trump said there was a “really good chance” the two could meet after a surprise intervention by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, during the G7 summit to try to bring Washington and Tehran together.
Continue reading...Hassan Rouhani spoke after Iraqi president’s visit to Iran at request of UK defence ministry
Iran has indicated it wants to de-escalate the British-Iranian crisis, hinting at swapping two captured tankers.
“We do not seek the continuation of tension with some European countries,” Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, said on Wednesday during a weekly cabinet meeting. “If Britain steps away from the wrong actions in Gibraltar, they will receive an appropriate response from Iran.”
Continue reading...Critics point to irony of UK calling on EU support while heading for Brexit
Plans for a European-led maritime security force in the Gulf unveiled by the UK foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, hit choppy waters as the plan was rejected by Iran, met resistance from supporters of the incoming prime minister, Boris Johnson, and was seen by British shipping industry experts as not providing a short-term solution to the crisis facing UK-flagged shipping in the Gulf.
On Monday, Hunt unveiled a plan for a European-led maritime security force, making clear he regarded a proposed rival plan for a US force as likely to be seen by the Iranians as an escalatory step, partly since Washington opposes the Iran nuclear deal.
Continue reading...French envoy visits Tehran as Rouhani warns UK tanker seizure will have repercussions
Iran has told Europe it will not reverse its decision to increase uranium enrichment beyond the limits set by the 2015 nuclear accord until it achieves its “full rights” to an economic relationship with the EU under the deal.
Ali Shamkhani, a senior security official and representative of Iran’s supreme leader, made his remarks as he met a senior French diplomat sent to Tehran by the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
Continue reading...Country may be waiting on outcome of talks setting out plans to kickstart trade with EU
Iran has held back on its threat to make its first breach of the nuclear deal and may be waiting for the outcome of talks with EU powers, China and Russia in Vienna.
At the talks on Friday the EU countries will set out plans to kickstart trade between Tehran and the bloc, one of the Iranian preconditions for sticking with the deal.
Continue reading...Japan’s prime minister isn’t the first leader to regret trying to do Trump a favor – but he must have known he was taking a risk
Shinzo Abe’s trip to Tehran this week turned out to be one of the more ill-fated mediation efforts of recent times.
What was billed as a grand gesture – the first Japanese leader to visit Iran in four decades – ended in humiliation, with split-screen television pictures showing Abe being told off by a stern supreme leader, while a thick plume of smoke rose from a burning Japanese tanker in the Gulf of Oman.
Continue reading...The US is prepared to engage with Iran about its nuclear program without pre-conditions but needs to see the country behaving like “a normal nation”, secretary of state Mike Pompeo said on Sunday.
Iranian president Hassan Rouhani suggested on Saturday that Iran may be willing to hold talks if Washington shows it respect, but said Tehran would not be pressured into talks.
Continue reading...President calls for united front in face of ‘unprecedented’ US pressure
Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, has called for unity among political factions to overcome conditions that he said may be harder than those during the 1980s war with Iraq, state media reported, as the country faces tightening US sanctions.
Donald Trump on Thursday urged Iran’s leaders to talk with him about giving up their nuclear programme and said he could not rule out a military confrontation.
Continue reading...President suggests US could help revive Iran’s economy in return for no-nuclear weapons pledge
Donald Trump has offered Iran direct talks, saying its leaders should “call me” and suggested the US would help revive the country’s economy as long as Iran did not acquire nuclear weapons.
The impromptu offer by the US president, if serious, represents a dramatic lowering of the bar set by his administration for lifting extensive sanctions, including an oil embargo. Iran is already party to a 2015 agreement that strictly limits its nuclear programme and places it under close scrutiny. Trump withdrew the US from the Obama-era treaty a year ago.
Continue reading...Hassan Rouhani’s move to alter commitments amid crippling US sanctions outlined
Iran has suspended commitments it made under the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, which lifted sanctions on the country in exchange for limits on Tehran’s nuclear programme. The deal was reached after years of negotiations.
Continue reading...Election victory gives Israeli PM confidence he will get his way on Iran and Palestine
His supporters call him a magician. And there is truly something uncanny about how Benjamin Netanyahu has conjured up three-way US, Russian and Arab support for his hardline security and nationalist agenda. For a small country, Israel packs an ever bigger punch – and pugnacious Bibi’s likely fifth term presages a new era of escalating confrontation.
First in line for the Netanyahu treatment is Iran. He claimed credit on Monday for Donald Trump’s unprecedented decision to brand Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, including its al-Quds force, a foreign terrorist organisation. The provocative move, akin to singling out the US marine corps for punishment, bought a vengeful riposte from Tehran.
Continue reading...Ebrahim Raisi accused by US of role in deaths of thousands of political prisoners in 1988
A hardline cleric once thought to be a possible successor to Iran’s supreme leader has been appointed head of the Islamic Republic’s judiciary, sparking concern from rights activists over his involvement in the execution of thousands of people in the 1980s.
Ebrahim Raisi was named to the post in a decree by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
Continue reading...Almost 36 hours after the apparent resignation of Iran’s foreign minister, there are finally some answers to the many questions it raised. For instance, his superior, president Hassan Rouhani, has not accepted his resignation, which is required under Iranian law. Neither has the top decision-maker in the country, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – if one is to believe cryptic rumours of a “high-ranking official” having told the diplomat that his exit is not “expedient”. Mohammad Javad Zarif is back at work, joining Rouhani in greeting a visiting Armenian delegation early on Wednesday.
But there is still the question of why Zarif suddenly decided to go on Instagram at midnight on Monday, expressing gratitude to “the dear and honourable Iranian people for the last 67 months” and apologising for his “incapacity” to continue serving in his post. Being under fire from all sides is certainly not a novelty for the ever-smiling Iranian chief diplomat. For years, he has been adored and despised for essentially the same thing: his ability to convincingly make Iran’s case to the world in fluent English, with a strong grasp of how western media works.
Continue reading...