White House Asked 8 Times For Trump-Rouhani Meeting, Iran Says

[Swordsmyth]

In a disclosure that the New York Times said showed "a previously undisclosed level of hostility among top Iranian officials toward President Trump", the paper reported Thursday that Iran had rejected eight requests from the White House for a meeting between Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during the United Nations General Assembly last year.

White House and State Department officials haven't responded to Iran's claim, made by Rouhani’s chief of staff, Mahmoud Vaezi, at a cabinet meeting. Reports of the remark first surfaced in Iranian state media. Iran’s Foreign Ministry has previously claimed that it denied a request for a meeting between the two leaders.

"Trump asked the Iranian delegation eight times to have a meeting with the president," Mr. Vaezi said.

Since then, Trump has withdrawn the US from the 2015 Iran deal and restored sanctions against the country in defiance of the wishes of Russia, China and our European partners. Iran was also included in Trump's travel ban, which was recently upheld by the Supreme Court. Despite this, Trump has also expressed a willingness to engage Iran and negotiate, though the two sides haven't had much, if any, contact.

"The biggest obstacle to a U.S.-Iran dialogue is not Trump but Khamenei," said Karim Sadjadpour, a senior fellow in the Middle East program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "Trump flew halfway around the world to meet with Kim Jong-un. Khamenei hasn’t left Iran since 1989."

Obama and Mr. Rouhani spoke on the phone at the end of the 2013 General Assembly as the Iranian leader headed home. That was the first time an Iranian leader had spoken with a US President since the revolution.
Iranian officials also have threatened to renounce the nuclear accord if its European partners cannot find ways to bypass the American sanctions, which threaten penalties on all countries that engage economically with Iran. Hostilities have endured, and though Iran has expressed openness to engaging with the European Union and the accord's other partners, many fear it will soon collapse. But regardless of what happens, it doesn't appear the Iranians will be "engaging" with the Trump administration any time soon.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...ting-iran-says

[enhanced_deficit]

In a disclosure that the New York Times said showed "a previously undisclosed level of hostility among top Iranian officials toward President Trump", the paper reported Thursday that Iran had rejected eight requests from the White House for a meeting between Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during the United Nations General Assembly last year.

MAGA made 8 requests for meetings during UN session and they rejected all those requests?

That's a lot of rejection for the leader of the free world even considering that tensions were high at UN last year due to widely respected neocon Nikki Haley's strong support for our closest ally & the only non-racist democracy in mideast / US was pretty isolated at the time and was taking names.







That said, some of the memes covering UN tensions at the time went too far.

[Swordsmyth]

Iran's Supreme Leader on Monday rejected U.S. President Donald Trump's offer of unconditional talks to improve bilateral ties and he also accused the Iranian government of economic mismanagement in the face of reimposed U.S. sanctions.
Washington reimposed the sanctions last week after pulling out of a 2015 international deal aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear programme in return for an easing of economic sanctions. Trump has also threatened to penalise companies that continue to operate in Iran.
"I ban holding any talks with America... America never remains loyal to its promises in talks," said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on policy in the Islamic Republic.
"America's withdrawal from the nuclear deal is a clear proof that America cannot be trusted," state TV quoted Khamenei as telling a gathering attended by thousands of Iranians.
The sanctions target Iran's trade in gold and other precious metals, its purchases of U.S. dollars and its car industry.
Washington had said Iran's only chance of avoiding the sanctions would be to accept Trump's offer to negotiate for a tougher nuclear deal. Iranian officials already rejected the offer but it is the first time Khamenei has publicly commented.

More at: http://www.euronews.com/2018/08/13/i...to-talk-to-u-s