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Rouhani: Trump Launching Psychological Warfare, Talks with US Meaningless

Rouhani: Trump Launching Psychological Warfare, Talks with US Meaningless
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Local Editor

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declared that his country cannot enter talks with the "untrustworthy" administration of US President Donald Trump as long as Tehran is under the shadow of economic sanctions. 

Rouhani made the comments in a televised interview on Monday evening, just hours before the first round of unilateral "snap back" US sanctions take effect on Tuesday.

"You cannot expect to talk to a person after you stab him and leave the knife in his body," Rouhani, speaking in Persian, told IRIB state television.

He said the United States proved to be an unreliable negotiating partner when it decided to withdraw from a multinational nuclear deal with Iran and re-impose sanctions against it.

"If there is trust, Iran always welcomes negotiations," he said. "But negotiations don't make sense while we are under sanctions."

Speaking to IRIB, Rouhani said Trump's offer to negotiate is aimed at "creating divisions" in Iran, accusing him of trying to launch "psychological warfare" against the Iranian people. 

“The person who claims to be advocate of talks (should know that) the negotiation has principles first of which is honesty and the two sides should believe in talks in a bid to reach their desire outcome in talks,” Rouhani added.

“Honesty does not match sanctions. It is meaningless. In case somebody is saying ‘I want to negotiate and gain result’ what would be the need for imposing sanctions. Does he wants to impose sanctions on kids, ill people, elders or the Iranian nation?”

“So, what would be the meaning of negotiation amid sanctions,” he asked.

“What Mr. Trump is doing is against the Iranian nation and Iran’s national interests,” Rouhani noted, adding that Iran has always welcomed negotiations.

Earlier, Donald Trump signed an executive order re-imposing many sanctions on Iran, three months after pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal.

He says the US policy is to levy "maximum economic pressure" on the country.

In a statement Monday, Trump restated his opinion that the 2015 international accord to freeze Iran's nuclear program in return for lifting sanctions was a "horrible, one-sided deal."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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