Iran Press/ America: "Not this year, nor last year. We have never made such a request for a meeting with the President of the United States," Rouhani said in his interview with CNN.
He added, “Of course, Iran received eight requests from US officials for a meeting last year, and I did not think such talks would be appropriate; I don’t see it appropriate now either”.
Dr Rouhani went on to say, “What is important for us is that the two leaders must pursue common interests and take practical steps. If we follow this goal, it is appropriate, but playing with words will not get us to any solutions", according to the official website of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
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Answering the question of what brings Iran back to the negotiation table with the US, he referred to the US’ unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal and continued, “So, nobody has the right to exit a deal unilaterally without any reason, and nobody has the right to violate UNSC resolutions”.
“The United States’ government deviated on a path during the past few months and it must return from that deviated path to the point of departure, and there will be the point where we can talk about as to whether this agreement is being implemented well,” he continued.
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Rouhani also went on to say, “Until such time that the Iranian government rises from the will of the people in result of the ballot box, through which process their leadership and the representatives are chosen, that means that people are in charge. No power and government can face down a nation”.
Stating that until Iran’s interests are safeguarded in this agreement, we will stay in it, the President added, “But if we see that the remaining five countries don’t live up to their commitments, then there will be new conditions”.
“Of course this is true that sanctions will put pressure on the people; sanction means disrupting global trade and the Americans are working as hard as they can to disrupt our trade with other countries and companies,” Rouhani said.
Pointing out that US officials say contradictory things, the President continued, “While they are saying that they will put pressure on the people and make their lives harder, they also say that we love these people; this is a clear contradiction in the words and actions of the current US officials”.
On US and some European countries’ worries about Iran’s role in Syria and Yemen, he said, “We must consider the realities in Syria and Yemen; in Syria, who were killing the people and driving people out of their homes? We all agree that terrorist groups had displaced the people of Iraq and Syria from their homes".
“Foreign media covered some of these crimes and all countries were apparently saying that they opposed terrorists and want to fight terrorism, but some were helping these terrorists and buying their oil,” President Rouhani continued.
He also said, “What we are doing in Iraq and Syria is to the benefit of peace and security in the region and the world, as well the people of Iraq and Syria”.
Responding to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s case, Dr Rouhani added, "I don’t have details on this case. All prisoners must be freed and returned to their families, but it must be a two-way process".
On the last day of his stay, President Rouhani participated in a press conference and responded to reporters' questions.
The 73rd session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 73) opened on 18 September 2018. The first day of the high-level General Debate was Tuesday, 25 September 2018, and is scheduled to last for nine working days.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani left New York for Tehran on Wednesday afternoon at the end of his four day stay.
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