Not looking to hurt them: Trump to meet Iranian officials if necessary

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Iran appears ready to talk to the United States and that he would be open to meeting Iranian officials “if necessary.” Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews before heading to a rally in Iowa, Trump stated, “Iran does want to speak, and I think they’d like to speak to me, and it’s time that they do.”

He added, “We’re not looking to hurt them. We’re looking to let them be a country again.”

Trump’s remarks came on the same day the US announced fresh sanctions against Iran’s oil industry. These are the first sanctions on Iran’s energy sector since a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Iran took effect last month.

The new sanctions target individuals and companies allegedly involved in smuggling Iranian oil. One of the named individuals is Salim Ahmed Said, an Iraqi businessman. His company, based in the United Arab Emirates, is accused by the US of disguising Iranian oil as Iraqi oil to bypass international restrictions.

IRAN INSISTS IT HAS NOT CUT IAEA TIES

While tensions over Iran’s nuclear program have grown in recent days, especially after the Iranian parliament passed a new law restricting international inspections. Despite this, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi denied that Iran had ended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), calling such reports “fake news.”

“Iran remains committed to the NPT and its Safeguards Agreement,” Araghchi said. “In accordance with the new legislation by Majlis, sparked by the unlawful attacks against our nuclear facilities by Israel and the US, our cooperation with the IAEA will be channelled through Iran’s Supreme National Security Council for obvious safety and security reasons.”

According to the new law, future inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities now require approval from the Supreme National Security Council.

The IAEA said it is “awaiting further official information from Iran” to understand the impact of the new rules.

US WARNS IRAN TO COOPERATE WITH NUCLEAR INSPECTIONS

The United States strongly criticised Iran’s decision to limit IAEA access. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said during a regular briefing, “We’ll use the word ‘unacceptable,’ that Iran chose to suspend cooperation with the IAEA at a time when it has a window of opportunity to reverse course and choose a path of peace and prosperity.”

Bruce added that before the recent military strikes by the US, Iran had been stockpiling enriched uranium with no peaceful explanation.

“Iran must cooperate fully with the UN agency without further delay,” she said.

However, Iran has accused the IAEA of being biased in favour of Western powers and of justifying Israeli airstrikes on its nuclear facilities. Those attacks began shortly after the IAEA declared that Iran had violated its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Meanwhile, efforts to reduce tensions in the region continue. The ceasefire brokered by the US brought an end 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel.

– Ends

With inputs from Reuters

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