IRGC Commander Slams Trump as Liar

Rasa - Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari dismissed US President Donald Trump's claims that his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani has demanded meeting him, calling Trump a liar.

News ID: 440732

Date: 28 September 2018 - 12:13

RNA - "Mr. Trump! The Iranian nation is confident that your claim that the honorable president of the Islamic Republic of Iran has requested a meeting with you is a big lie like your other lies," General Jafari said in Tehran on Wednesday.

He underlined that while the US hegemonic system's cruelties continue under the leadership of the imperialist system of the Trump administration, Iran will not change its approach as the country's culture is interwoven with might accompanied by struggle against oppression.

General Jafari underscored that all oppressed nations and freedom-seeking people in the world are uniting against the US, and said when the world leaders mocked at Trump during his speech at the UN General Assembly meeting, the US isolation was displayed more than ever.

President Rouhani told an American news outlet on Tuesday that, contrary to Trump's claims, the US has sent eight requests for meeting him since last year.

The Iranian chief executive made the remarks in an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, reassuring that Iran sees it useless to hold talks with Trump's administration.

In a bid to show a pose of nonchalance, the US president posted a tweet on Tuesday morning, saying that "Despite requests, I have no plans to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Maybe someday in the future. I am sure he is an absolutely lovely man!"

While Trump has been wearing a tough face against Iran nuclear agreement and even he pulled the US out of the agreement in a unilateral move in early May, he has been sporadically trying to schedule a bilateral meeting with his Iranian counterpart.

To his dismay, Iran has been rejecting flat his numerous requests, saying that any new rounds of Iran-US talks are hinged upon the US government's behavior in regard with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as Iran nuclear accord.

Since the conclusion of the Iran deal on July 14, 2015, Iran has implemented the articles of the agreement and observed the undertakings it had made in the accord, according to more than a dozen reports issued by the UN atomic energy watchdog (IAEA) but, in violation of the agreement, the US has refused to allow Iran to benefit from the economic reliefs promised in the deal.

In a relevant development earlier on Tuesday, an Iranian envoy at the UN also rejected media speculations that Rouhani has requested a meeting with Trump in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

“Iran has not requested a meeting,” Alireza Miryousefi, a spokesman for Iran’s UN mission, told Reuters on Tuesday.

Trump's claim may seem to look more unbelievable to politically savvy people as President Rouhani voiced surprise, earlier this month, at the US repeated calls for negotiations with Tehran amid severe hostilities.

"On one hand, they pressure the Iranian nation, and on the other hand, they send us messages through different channels every day calling for negotiations," President Rouhani said, addressing a festival in Tehran.

Addressing the White House officials, he said, "Should we believe your softness in messages or your brutal acts? If you are sincere and like the Iranian nation, why do you want to exert pressure on people's lives?"

President Rouhani underscored that Washington and its allies are making a mistake if they think that they can force the Iranian nation to bow to pressures and surrender to the US after several months.

In relevant comments in August, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei underlined that Iran would not sit to the negotiating table with Washington, and declared a strong ban on talks with the US.

"Recently, the US officials have been talking blatantly about us. Beside sanctions, they talk about war and negotiations. They talk about a spirit of war to frighten the cowards," Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing a large number of Iranian people from all walks of life in Tehran.

"In the matter of negotiations, they play a poor game. One of them says, negotiations with preconditions, another one says, negotiations without preconditions. Let me address the people on the matter in a few words: There will be no war, nor will we negotiate with the US. This is the gist of the word that all the Iranian people should know. The US has now suggested negotiations; this is not new. This has existed since the beginning of the revolution," he underlined.

Ayatollah Khamenei explained to the audience why Iran has decided not to negotiate with the United States, and asserted, "Why won’t we negotiate? The US negotiations formula is this; because the Americans rely on money and power, they consider negotiations as a commercial exchange; when the US wants to negotiate with a party, they determine their main goals, and then they won’t retreat even a step away from these goals; they demand the other party to pay a privilege immediately; and if the other party refuses to comply with them, they start to make a fuss, so the other party would surrender; the US itself does not pay anything in exchange for what it takes from the other party; the US only makes strong promises in order to enchant the other party with mere promises; in the final stage, after receiving all the immediate advantages, the US breach their own promises."

"This is the method of the American negotiations. Now should we negotiate with such a fraudulent government? The JCPOA was a clear example of this," Ayatollah Khamenei said, and added, "Even if we ever - impossible as it is - negotiated with the US, it would never ever be with the current US administration."

According to Fars News Agancy,  Ayatollah Khamenei banned any negotiations with the US, saying, "The Islamic Republic can negotiate with the US only when it reaches the power and sovereignty that would nullify US’s pressures and domineering efforts; when those efforts have no effect on Iran. Today this is not the case. Thus, I will ban negotiations with the US just as Imam (Khomeini) did."

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution slammed US rhetoric towards Iran, and stated, "The US has become more blatant and ruder in their rhetoric over the past few months. Previously they were not so observant of diplomatic etiquette in their speech either; however, they have become ruder towards all nations."

Ayatollah Khamenei drew an example of US’s blatancy in actions and rhetoric, and said, "The example of it is that during the last week, the Saudis committed two crimes: attacking a hospital and attacking a school bus with 40 or 50 innocent children on board. Do you have 8 or 9 year-olds at home? This is a dramatic tragedy. It truly breaks one’s heart. The news shook the global conscience. But how did the US react? Instead of condemning the crime, the US said, “We have strategic relations with Saudi Arabia.” Is this not shamelessness? What the US president did to two or three thousand children by separating them from their parents, putting them in cages because they were immigrants is an unprecedented crime in history."

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