Iran Press/Iran news: Wallace asked if they’re “all trying to exercise regime change?”
“At least, at least,” Mohammad Javad Zarif responded. “They have all shown an interest in dragging the United States into a conflict. I do not believe that President Trump wants to do that, I believe President Trump ran on a campaign promise of not bringing the United States into another war. But I believe President Trump’s intention to put pressure, the policy of maximum pressure on Iran in order to bring Iran to its knees so that we would succumb to pressure, is doomed to failure.”
Earlier this week, there had been a war of words between the State Department and the Iranian foreign minister over Zarif’s proposed prisoner swap.
Among those Zarif suspects of wanting to escalate tensions are National Security Advisor John Bolton, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
On Monday morning, Washington announced that President Donald Trump had decided not to renew oil waivers, known as “Significant Reduction Exceptions”, given to China, India, Japan, South Korea and Turkey.
Oil prices have risen sharply this year, peaking above $72 a barrel due to voluntary and involuntary cuts by members of OPEC, the oil producers’ cartel, that have tightened supply.
On May 2018, the US President Donald Trump withdrew from 2015 multilateral nuclear agreement, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and re-imposed sanctions that had been lifted under the accord.
Washington reinstated a series of unilateral sanctions against Iran in early August and re-imposed a second batch in November. Donald Trump has stated the goal of the sanctions was to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero. 101/211/202
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Iran keeps it's word on JCPOA: Zarif
