Lift sanctions before negotiations, Iran tells US

By Ahmet Dursun</p> <p>ANKARA (AA) – Iran would enter negotiations with the U.S. if the latter first lifted economic sanctions on Tehran, Iranian state media quoted President Hassan Rouhani as saying Tuesday.</p> <p>“Sanctions cannot be used as a tool for forcing Iran to the negotiating table,” he said, adding that Washington should “respect the Iranian people and lift sanctions before holding talks”.</p> <p>According to Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency, Rouhani made the remarks while addressing Shia and Sunni Muslim scholars in Iran’s Golestan Province.</p> <p>“The country is certainly facing unusual circumstances, but we don’t fear sanctions,” he was quoted as saying. “Nor will we retreat from our objectives.”</p> <p>Rouhani also accused the U.S., Israel and certain Arab Gulf States of waging an “economic war” on Iran.</p> <p>“Iran will never be isolated,” he went on to assert. “Now, globally, only a few countries support [Washington’s] policies regarding the [2015] nuclear deal and the sanctions.”</p> <p>Last year, U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew his country from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 group of nations (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany).</p> <p>Shortly afterward, Washington re-imposed economic sanctions on Iran targeting the country’s energy and banking sectors.