The President of the US, Donald Trump, with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani. (Image via CNN.com)

Trump's unwillingness to meet Rouhani

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Politics & Economic
International
Sep 18, 2019
2236
On the upcoming 74th United Nations (UN) General Assembly (UNGA) on later September, numerous sidelines were meeting between country leaders. One of these meetings is between the President of the US, Donald Trump, and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani.

US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, stated on Tuesday (10/9) last week that both leaders would meet without any terms and conditions.

Nonetheless, the president on Monday (16/9) bashed Pompeo’s statement as “fake news” through his official Twitter account. Moreover, on the next day, Trump confirmed further that he would prefer not meeting the Iranian president.

“I never rule anything out, but I prefer not meeting him,” stated Trump before boarding the Air Force One, Tuesday (17/9).

During a joint press conference with President of France, Emmanuel Macron, in the 45th G7 Summit in Biarritz, France, Trump stated his willingness to negotiate with Rouhani. Furthermore, Trump hailed Iran as a country “full of potential”, and he was looking forward to co-operating with Iran in one condition: no nuclear, nor ballistic missile.

On the other hand, the rejection came first from Rouhani. On Monday, Rouhani stated that he would not meet Trump on the sidelines of the UNGA, and any news about it was a “speculation”. The Iranian president said that the “maximum pressure” campaign hailed by the US is failing.

"We have neither planned for this meeting, nor do I think such a thing would happen in New York," said the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Abbas Mousavi, on Monday.

Rouhani keeps his words that he will not talk with Trump until all sanctions are lifted from Tehran. Furthermore, the conditions between the two countries are getting bleaker after the drone attack in Saudi’s Aramco oil facility that crippled 2% of global oil reserves.

Pompeo accused Iran as the mastermind behind the attack, while Tehran stated that the accusations were “unacceptable” and “baseless”. Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, tweeted that Pompeo’s allegation is nothing but “max deceit”.

It seems like the peace talks between the US and Iran still have a long way to go.

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/trump-rouhani-unga-meeting-agenda-iran-190916083936880.html

Politics , International , US , Iran , Nuclear