Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday that the "situation" between his nation and the United States is "not suitable" for diplomacy, apparently shooting down the prospects of any negotiations with the Trump administration.
Even as tensions between the two nations have escalated in recent weeks, President Donald Trump has hinted that negotiations with Tehran could be possible.
But Rouhani said Tuesday that "resistance" is his country's only option for dealing with the punishing sanctions imposed by Washington.“Today’s situation is not suitable for talks and our choice is resistance only,” Rouhani said, according to the state-run news agency IRNA. The Iranian president's remarks to IRNA were reported by Reuters.
As fears rise of a military clash with Tehran, Trump has warned of grim consequences should Iran or its proxies attack U.S. interests while also repeatedly expressing an openness to engage in diplomatic talks with the Islamic Republic. As administration officials and hawkish Republicans have warned that new intelligence points to a credible threats from Iran — a claim disputed by some lawmakers — Trump has at times appeared to downplay that threat.
On Monday, Trump told reporters that there was "no indication that anything has happened or will happen" though he said any attack by Iran would be met with "great force."
He also said he would “certainly negotiate” with Iran “if they called.”
“But that's going to be up to them,” he added. “I'd only want them to call if they're ready. If they're not ready, they don't have to bother.”
His invitation to Iran came days after threatening in a tweet to bring about the “end of Iran” if Tehran sought to fight, and after the Pentagon dispatched a number of military assets to the region in response to what the administration says is an increasing threat.
As the U.S. has reimposed and tightened its sanctions on Iran after pulling out of the 2015 multinational pact aimed at curbing its nuclear program, Iran has tested the boundaries of the agreement, threatening last week to increase its capacity of enriched uranium if the remaining signatories do not negotiate a new deal in a matter of months. The Trump administration has sought to bring Iran back to the negotiating table to seek relief, a tactic that so far Tehran has resisted, with Rouhani deriding the sanctions as an "economic war" on Iran.
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine