Rouhani: Talks Possible if US Returns to 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal

President Hassan Rouhani adjusts his face mask in a meeting of the national headquarters of the fight against the COVID-19, in Tehran, Iran, July 18, 2020 (AP)
President Hassan Rouhani adjusts his face mask in a meeting of the national headquarters of the fight against the COVID-19, in Tehran, Iran, July 18, 2020 (AP)
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Rouhani: Talks Possible if US Returns to 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal

President Hassan Rouhani adjusts his face mask in a meeting of the national headquarters of the fight against the COVID-19, in Tehran, Iran, July 18, 2020 (AP)
President Hassan Rouhani adjusts his face mask in a meeting of the national headquarters of the fight against the COVID-19, in Tehran, Iran, July 18, 2020 (AP)

If the United States wants an agreement with Iran, it must first come back to Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six powers that Washington abandoned two years ago, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday.

“Washington’s maximum pressure policy on Iran has failed 100%...If Washington wants an agreement with us, then they should apologize for exiting the deal and return to it,” Rouhani told a televised news conference.

Long-tense relations between the two adversaries have almost come to blows since 2018 when US President Donald Trump ditched the deal reached by his predecessor Barack Obama and reimposed sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy.

In response to what Washington calls its “maximum pressure” campaign to force Iran to negotiate a new deal, Tehran has breached key limits on nuclear activity imposed by the 2015 accord, under which Tehran accepted curbs on its uranium enrichment program in return for relief from sanctions.

Trump has pledged to strike a new deal - under which he would seek stricter limits on enrichment, an end to Tehran’s ballistic missile program and malicious behavior in various Middle East conflicts - within weeks if he wins re-election in November.

“Trump has been talking a lot ... The next president, whether it is Trump or someone else, must adopt a different approach towards Iran,” Rouhani said.

Last week the United States moved to reinstate global UN sanctions on Iran, including an arms embargo, arguing Tehran was in violation of the 2015 nuclear deal even though Washington itself abandoned that agreement two years ago.

Council members France, Britain and Germany (E3), which along with Russia and China remain in the accord, have dismissed the move as void given Washington’s departure from the deal and said it was harming efforts to restrain Iran’s nuclear activity.

But France’s foreign minister, echoing the stance of Britain and Germany, told his Iranian counterpart that Paris was worried about the impact of the arms embargo expiring in October.

“The minister reiterated our concern about Iran’s destabilizing activities and the consequences of the expiration of the...embargo on conventional arms, and told him of the E3’s determination to seek solutions preserving security and regional stability,” ministry deputy spokesman Francois Delmas said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel urged Britain to join the US bid to reimpose UN sanctions during a visit by British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to Jerusalem.

“Look at Iran’s aggression today, without a nuclear weapon. What a huge danger Iran would be to the entire world if it did get a nuclear weapon,” Netanyahu told Raab, according to a statement released by the premier’s office.

Iran has repeatedly denied seeking nuclear weapons.



Iran Executes Two Members of Mujahideen-e-Khalq Group

Iran police. (Reuters)
Iran police. (Reuters)
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Iran Executes Two Members of Mujahideen-e-Khalq Group

Iran police. (Reuters)
Iran police. (Reuters)

Iran executed two members of the banned Mujahideen-e-Khalq group for attacking civilian infrastructure with homemade projectiles, the judiciary news outlet Mizan said on Sunday.

Mehdi Hassani and Behrouz Ehsani-Eslamloo, identified as "operational elements" of the MEK, were sentenced to death in September 2024 - a verdict upheld by the Supreme Court, which denied their request for a retrial, Mizan said.

"The terrorists, in coordination with MEK leaders, had built launchers and hand-held mortars in line with the group's goals, fired projectiles heedlessly at citizens, homes, service and administrative facilities, educational and charity centers," the report said.

The defendants were indicted with destroying public property and "membership in a terrorist organization with the aim of disrupting national security."

The MEK, known in English as People's Mujahideen Organization of Iran, was a powerful leftist-militant group that staged bombing campaigns against the shah's government and US targets in the 1970s but ultimately fell out with the other factions of the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Since then, the MEK has opposed Iran and its leadership in exile has been Paris-based. The group was listed as a terrorist organization by the US and the European Union until 2012.