US must end maximum pressure policy – Iran
NEW YORK: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged the United States on Thursday (Friday in Manila) to “cease this policy of maximum pressure” on his nation, saying it was driving the possibility of negotiations even further away.
Rouhani stuck to his insistence that US sanctions must be lifted before he would talk with President Donald Trump, although he did not explicitly rule out such a meeting if they remain in place.
He spoke about discussions with the leaders of France, Japan and Pakistan about trying to promote talks, and he made clear that such contacts are continuing.
At a wide-ranging news conference a day after his address to the United Nations ( UN) General Assembly on Wednesday, he said the Americans are still using “more pressure aimed at reaching discussions, which is the same thing that is taking them farther and farther away from discussions and negotiations.”
“Cease this policy of maximum pressure and pursue a policy of dialogue and logic and reason,” Rouhani said. Moving in that direction, he said, “would be a different set of circumstances and a different atmosphere.”
Iran has been accused by the US, Britain, France and Germany of carrying out drone and missile strikes against key oil facilities in Saudi Arabia on September 14 that temporarily knocked out nearly 6 percent of daily global crude production and rattled oil markets.
Rouhani again denied any Iranian involvement. “As we say in Persian,” he said, “we’re not the top end of the onion or the bottom of it, so we have nothing to do with it.”
In discussions with some European countries that made the “wrong” conclusion, Rouhani said he asked for their evidence, and they offered no documentation. Saudi Arabia has invited UN investigators to assess where the strikes were launched. It says Iranian weapons were used.
Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf told the General Assembly later Thursday that “we know very well who stood behind this aggression.” He explicitly named Iran.
“Utmost pressure with every tool available should be applied to end the terrorist and aggressive conduct of the Iranian regime,” al-Assaf said.
He urged the international community to cut off Iran’s sources of
renounce its militias, prevent it from developing ballistic missiles and put an end to its destabilizing activities in the region and the world.”
Iran’s economy has been buckling under the weight of the sanctions. Trump added to them on Wednesday, targeting Tehran’s ability to sell its oil by imposing penalties on six Chinese companies and their chief executives for continuing to transport Iranian crude.