Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday that negotiating with the Trump administration is hard to imagine after its withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.
Interacting with the US has not been an issue per se because Tehran held the “the longest negotiations in history with the Americans" when working on the historic nuclear agreement, Zarif said.
"At the end of the [nuclear] negotiations, the Leader had said if and when the desire outcome is achieved in the nuclear field, negotiations with the Americans could continue," he said in a speech in Tehran Monday held to commemorate Reporter's Day that falls on August 8, IRNA reported.
"We held the longest negotiations in history with the Americans and other signatories to the JCPOA for two years," he said, expressing doubt about US President Donald Trump's recent offer to talk to Tehran "any time without preconditions” after pulling out of the nuclear accord—formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
*** Open Disregard
Every single word in the deal was negotiated at length but Trump invalidated it with a single signature, the minister recalled.
Addressing himself to the Americans, he said, "You have disregarded the value of the time spent, the talks held, the result produced and the resolution issued by the United Nations Security Council, which was endorsed by the majority of countries. And you still claim that you prefer dialogue?"
Zarif was referring to the fact that the agreement was indeed the culmination of years of painstaking diplomacy, hard work and the joint effort of seven countries and that it has the blessing of the UN Security Council in its Resolution 2231.
"We never left the negotiating table. It was the other side that came to the negotiating table because they realized that pressure and sanctions cannot bring about a change in the policies of the Islamic Republic."
*** Political Isolation
The minister said the leaders of the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel are isolated in their unending hostility toward Iran.
"These three sides are symbols of oppression, violence and untrustworthiness in the world. These people are those who tear up international agreements, violate the rights of the Palestinian people and hold a country's prime minister hostage on their territory.”
He was referring to Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman whose country was last year accused of holding Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri in the kingdom against his will.
Saudi Arabia and Israel are the only two countries that have openly and strongly supported reimposition of US economic sanctions against Iran.
The other parties to the 2015 nuclear agreement—Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia —say Iran is abiding by all its commitments and have vowed to salvage the deal by ways possible.
