Iran leaves open possibility of negotiations if US returns to nuclear deal

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Photo: AP

The statement came just hours after the US reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic's energy sector and other sectors.

“There is no need for reconciliation or sending messages. Fulfill your (previous) obligations and then we can sit down and talk,” Rouhani said in a speech broadcast live on state television.

Calling the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal a “violation”, President Rouhani stressed that Iran was angry with US policy, and affirmed that US European allies and businesses in Europe were also angry with Washington regarding its policy.

Mr. Rouhani stated: “America has two main goals, one is to disappoint the Iranian people, the other is to weaken our country, but it will not succeed in any of its goals.”

While intensifying its “maximum pressure campaign” on the Iranian government, the Trump administration has decided to temporarily exempt eight countries from the ban on buying Iranian oil, including Japan. President Rouhani called this “a victory for Iran”.

The Iranian leader also called the US leadership “racist” and said that the Iranian people are in an economic conflict with the US. Mr. Rouhani compared President Trump to Saddam Hussein – the former Iraqi dictator who started an eight-year war with Iran from 1980.

On the same day, Iran began air defense drills across its vast northern territory on November 5 and 6. Iranian state television broadcast images of Iran's air defense systems and anti-aircraft artillery batteries participating in the drills.

Iranian Army General Habibillah Sayyari said both the army and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were participating and all the equipment used in the drills was Iranian-made.

The start of Iran's annual military exercises coincides with the reimposition of US sanctions on the Islamic Republic's key oil industry.