TEHRAN, Sept 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States should distance itself from “warmongers” after hardline national security adviser John Bolton was dismissed, Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani said.
Bolton was one of the strongest advocates of the ongoing US “maximum pressure” policy towards the Islamic Republic.
“Americans have to realise that warmongering and warmongers are not to their benefit,” Rouhani said in televised remarks. “They should not only abandon warmongering but also abandon their maximum pressure policy.
“Iran’s policy of resistance will not change as long as our enemy continues to put pressure on Iran.”
Tensions ratcheted up after the US pulled out of an historic international accord signed in 2015 between Iran and the world powers, under which Tehran accepted curbs on its nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief and access to world trade.
The US pressure policy includes crippling sanctions aimed at halting all Iranian oil exports – the economic lifeblood of the nation’s economy.
Iran has called the reimposition of sanctions “economic terrorism”.
Bolton’s dismissal by President Donald Trump on Tuesday raised the possibility of talks between the arch rivals after more than a year of escalating tensions, including Iran shooting down a US drone and the American military nearly launching a reprisal attack.
Iranian presidential adviser Hesameddin Ashena hailed the firing as a “clear sign of the defeat of America’s maximum pressure strategy” against Tehran.
But Ali Shamkhani, a top Iranian security official, said Bolton’s exit has “no impact” on how Tehran views US policy. He said what matters to Iran is American “compliance with international commitments, as well as lifting cruel and illegal sanctions”, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
Immediately after Bolton’s departure, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Trump could meet Rouhani for talks at an upcoming United Nations meeting with “no preconditions”.
However, Iran’s envoy to the UN, Majid Takhteravanchi, said Bolton’s dismissal didn’t change its position that there will be no negotiations until economic sanctions are lifted.
“The departure of … Bolton from President Donald Trump’s administration will not push Iran to reconsider talking with the US,” Iran’s IRNA news agency quoted Takhteravanchi as saying.
Trump, meanwhile, left open the possibility the United States could ease sanctions on Iran, saying on Wednesday he believes Tehran wants to strike a new deal on its nuclear programme.
“We’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked about the possibility the US would ease its pressure campaign. — NNN-AGENCIES
