Rohani Says Tehran Will Never Talk To U.S. Under Pressure

Iran will never hold talks with the United States under pressure, President Hassan Rohani said in a news conference in Tehran on February 16, adding that the Islamic republic will one day force its enemy to come to the negotiating table.

“Iran will never negotiate under pressure…. We will never yield to America’s pressure and we will not negotiate from a position of weakness,” Rohani said.

The U.S. has reimposed crippling economic sanctions on Iran after exiting a major nuclear deal in 2018 that exchanged curbs on Iran’s nuclear program for sanctions relief.

U.S. President Donald Trump has argued that the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal were not tough enough to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, agreeing curbs to its ballistic-missile program, and ending its support for “proxy” groups across the Middle East.

The sanctions have taken a severe toll on the Iranian economy and sent the national currency plunging.

“America’s ‘maximum pressure’ towards Iran is doomed to failure,” Rohani said, referring to Trump’s Iran strategy.

The Iranian president also said that Tehran’s role was essential for security in the region.

“Securing peace and stability in the sensitive region of the Middle East and in the Persian Gulf is impossible without Iran’s help,” he said.

Based on reporting by ISNA, IRNA, and Reuters