Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a written interview with the Japanese news agency Kyodo on Monday that he would not reject the opportunity to meet with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, if Washington fulfilled its past commitments and proved its good intentions
TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd December, 2019) Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a written interview with the Japanese news agency Kyodo on Monday that he would not reject the opportunity to meet with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, if Washington fulfilled its past commitments and proved its good intentions."Lifting sanctions and returning to the nuclear deal can create new capacities for continuation of negotiations. If they talk with the Iranian people with the language of respect, then they will receive a response in the same way," Rouhani said, as quoted by the agency, adding that he would be willing to meet with Trump if the US "can implement past commitments and prove their goodwill."
He welcomed any efforts and diplomatic initiatives of countries friendly to Iran, including Japan, to save the Iran nuclear deal and lift sanctions, as well as to de-escalate the situation in the region.
Rouhani went to Tokyo last week, becoming the first Iranian president since 2000 to pay an official visit to Japan.
The nuclear deal was signed by Iran, the European Union, and the P5+1 group the United Kingdom, the United States, China, Russia, France plus Germany in 2015, and stipulated that Tehran limit its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of related international sanctions.
In May 2018, the United States withdrew from the deal unilaterally and imposed several rounds of sanctions on Iran. A year later, Iran issued an ultimatum to the other signatories either they attempt to relieve the economic blockade or Tehran will begin gradually dropping its nuclear commitments every 60 days.
Starting on July 7, Iran followed through on its warnings. The country started the fourth stage of abandoning the commitments in early November, which in part entailed restarting uranium enrichment at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.
