Rouhani says Iran favors talks with US

But Washington must lift all sanctions as tensions soar in Persian Gulf region

TEHERAN－Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that Teheran favors talks with Washington but the United States must first lift sanctions it imposed on the Islamic republic.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran favors talks and negotiations and, if the US really wants to talk, before anything else it should lift all sanctions," Rouhani said in remarks aired live on state television.

Rouhani said "peace with Iran is the mother of all peace" and "war with Iran is the mother of all wars" as he defended a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

Rouhani, speaking at the Foreign Ministry after meeting with his top diplomat, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said Iran was ready for talks regardless of whether or not the US was party to a landmark nuclear deal.

"Whether they want to come into the JCPOA or not, it's up to them," said Rouhani. "JCPOA" refers to the 2015 deal known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which was signed by Iran, the US, France, Russia, Britain, Germany, China and the European Union.

Rouhani told the US: "If you want security, if your soldiers want security in the region, (then agree to) security for security."

"You cannot harm our security and then expect your own security. Peace for peace and oil for oil," he added. "You cannot say that you won't allow our oil to be exported.

"Strait for strait. It cannot be that the Strait of Hormuz to be free for you and the Strait of Gibraltar not to be free for us."

Zarif on Monday confirmed reports that he had turned down an offer from a US senator to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House.

Tensions between Iran and the US have soared since Trump announced last year that the US was withdrawing from the deal in May 2018 and began reimposing sanctions against the Islamic republic.

The nuclear deal set limits on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the removal of punitive economic sanctions.

Following the US pullout from the nuclear accord and reimposition of sanctions, Iran's oil exports have seen a sharp decline.

At the height of the crisis, Trump said he called off airstrikes against Iran at the last minute in June after the Islamic republic's forces shot down a US drone.

Zarif said on Monday that Iran's minimum demand for oil sales under the 2015 nuclear deal is 2.8 million barrels per day.

Besides, the European parties should fulfill their promises concerning the return of Iranian petrodollars after the oil sales, Zarif said.

He said Iran will take another step to reduce its nuclear commitments if the parties to the deal fail to secure Iran's economic interests.

It is worth noting that Iran has recently withdrawn from parts of its obligations under the deal.

To secure trade with Iran and skirt US anti-Iran sanctions, the European Union announced in January the launch of a special payment channel with Iran known as Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges.

However, Teheran said the EU mechanism lacks feasibility in supplying Iran with petrodollars.

Iran has also been locked in a high-seas standoff with the United Kingdom－a US ally－since Royal Marines helped to seize a tanker carrying Iranian oil off Gibraltar on July 4.

AGENCIES - XINHUA