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Iran cool on renewed US offer of talks over sanctions

2018/8/7 14:10:25   source:CGTN

US President Donald Trump's top security adviser on Monday urged Iran to take up an offer of talks with the US or suffer more pain from economic sanctions, but Iran's president said Washington needed first to prove it can be trusted.

Trump wants to negotiate

Hours before revived US sanctions were due to kick in, White House national security adviser John Bolton said Iran should pay heed to Trump's willingness to negotiate.

"They could take up the president's offer to negotiate with them, to give up their ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs fully and really verifiably," Bolton told Fox News.

"If the ayatollahs want to get out from under the squeeze, they should come and sit down. The pressure will not relent while the negotiations go on," said Bolton, one of the administration's main hawks on Iran.

So-called snapback sanctions, due to come into force early on Tuesday, target Iranian purchases of US dollars, metals trading, coal, industrial software and its auto sector.

Rouhani calls for US trustworthiness

President Hassan Rouhani on Monday said Iran could hold talks with the US only if Washington proved its trustworthiness.

Rouhani implied that if the US signed up again to the nuclear deal and lifted sanctions, then that could pave the ground for negotiations.

"If you stab someone with a knife and then you say you want talks, then the first thing you have to do is remove the knife," Rouhani said in a speech broadcast live on state television.

"We are always in favor of diplomacy and talks... But talks need honesty," Rouhani said.

He called on Iranians to unite in the face of hardship. "There will be pressure because of sanctions, but we will overcome this with unity," he said.

Sanctions weak spots

The US sanctions strategy has several weak spots, according to reports.

A senior official at Iran's economy ministry said Tehran did not think the economic impact of the sanctions would be "massive."

"Many countries, including Europeans, disagree with the US sanctions and are willing to work with Iran," the official said.

EU vows to counter sanctions on Iran

The EU voiced regret on Monday at the looming US sanctions and vowed to counter their renewal.

The EU's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said the bloc, as well as Britain, France and Germany, deeply regretted Washington's move.

"We are determined to protect European economic operators engaged in legitimate business with Iran," she said in a statement.

The EU and other parties to the 2015 nuclear deal, China and Russia, are working to maintain trade with Iran, which has threatened to stop complying with curbs on its nuclear work if it fails to see the economic benefits of relief from sanctions under the deal, Reuters reported.

(With inputs from agencies)

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