“The maximum pressure” policy, which has been forced by us, is not a negotiation, but a form of surrender,” Iran’s FM said.
Iran said it is ready to negotiate with the US, although not under Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” strategy.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragci said in a statement on Saturday that “negotiations are necessary to lift sanctions, but not within the framework of the “maximum pressure” policy.”
Araguchi’s statement came after Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged the government not to negotiate with the US and called such an approach “reckless.”
Khamenei, who has final say on all strategic decisions in Iran, mentioned Iran’s previous experience in negotiations with Washington. In 2015, Iran signed a groundbreaking contract with the US, France, Germany, the UK, China and Russia to regulate its nuclear program in exchange for easing international sanctions.
However, during his first term in 2018, Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the agreement despite European opposition, despite European opposition, and reinstated fierce sanctions against Tehran.
On Wednesday, Trump called for a “verification of the nuclear peace agreement” with Iran, adding that he “cannot have nuclear weapons.”
Iran claims that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only and it denies its intention to develop atomic weapons.
However, the US president reinstated his “maximum pressure” policy on Tuesday, and on Thursday Washington announced financial sanctions against entities and individuals accused of shipping hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Iranian oil to China. .
“Iran does not want to negotiate with a country that simultaneously imposes new sanctions,” Aragi said on Saturday.
