Next US Gov’t Needs to Revise Iran Policy

President Hassan Rouhani said the “maximum pressure” campaign mounted by the administration of US President Donald Trump against Iran has failed to achieve its objectives, and the next US government has no option but to revise Washington’s policy on Tehran. 
“The Americans aimed to compel us to sit at the negotiating table while the dollar is strong and the rial is weak, but they saw it was impossible, so they faced a decisive defeat in their maximum pressure drive,” Rouhani said in a Tuesday meeting with senior directors of leading Iranian media outlets, President.ir reported. 
The president was referring to the unrelenting economic pressure being exerted by the US against Iran through tough financial, shipping and banking sanctions to force Iran to enter into negotiations with the US over a new nuclear deal, which also addresses Tehran’s regional role and defense program.
Iranian officials have categorically rejected any new engagement with the US unless the Americans rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal, from which they withdrew two years ago, and remove the sanctions they reimposed in violation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
“The US wanted to convince the world to side with them and wanted to undermine the JCPOA, but no one accepted their demand,” Rouhani said, pointing to the recent US failures in its anti-Iran push at the United Nations Security Council. 
The UNSC member states recently rejected a US-drafted resolution to extend an arms embargo against Iran, which will expire in October as envisioned in the nuclear deal. They have also vehemently opposed another US push to trigger a snapback of international sanctions on Iran under the pretext that Iran has not complied with the terms of the deal. 
Rouhani stressed, “The next US government, whether it is the current administration or another one, will certainly think about a new solution, as the current approach has produced no results, and it will have to change its policy.”    
On recent remarks by Trump in which he expressed confidence that he would be able to clinch a deal with Iran in a short space of time if he was reelected in the November election, Rouhani said, “Trump talks a lot … If an agreement means a return to JCPOA, this agreement can be made today, but if they intend to do something else and impose pressure on the Iranian nation, such an agreement would be impossible.”
Trump promised supporters at a recent campaign fundraiser that he would reach a quick deal with Iran, if reelected.
“When we win,” Trump had boasted, “we will have a deal within four weeks.”