Rohani hints at Tehran's willingness to exchange tankers and hold talks with Washington

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rowhani hinted yesterday that Tehran is ready to exchange tankers with Britain, hold indirect talks with the United States over its nuclear program and sanctions, and said Tehran was ready to enter into "fair" negotiations, Rowhani did not say what the negotiations were. Iranian intelligence minister Mohammad Alawi accused Iran's official news agency IRNA of fabricating and distorting news and statements. The US Treasury warned airlines against dealing with Iran's lines.

"As long as you are responsible for the country's executive duties, we are fully prepared to conduct fair, legal and genuine negotiations to solve the problems," Rouhani said. "But at the same time, we are not prepared to sit at the table of surrender under the name of negotiations."

The Iranian president also stressed that his country does not seek tension with European countries, but pointed out that if the negotiations on the nuclear agreement did not reach results, Tehran will reduce its commitments at the end of the 60 days.

He said that the reduction of commitments is temporary, and the situation can be reversed if other parties fulfill their obligations.

"We do not want to continue the tension with some European countries," Rohani said.

In a clear reference to Britain, Rohani said that "if these countries abide by international frameworks and abandon their wrongful actions, including those committed in Gibraltar, they will see an appropriate response from Iran."

Iran seized the ship, Stina Empero, a British flag carrying 23 people, last Friday.

This comes at a time when the Iranian Defense Minister, Brigadier General Amir Hatami, denied what a US military official said about the downing of at least one Iranian marlin aircraft.

The Iranian news agency IRNA quoted the minister as saying: "No Iranian aircraft has been shot down."

This comes a day after a senior US military official said there was a possibility that two Iranian drones had been dropped last week.

The US source said: "We are confident that we shot down one plane, and perhaps we dropped the second."

Last Thursday, US President Donald Trump announced the destruction of an Iranian marlin in the Strait of Hormuz. Which was denied by Iran at the time. Last month, Iran announced it had dropped a US drone as it penetrated Iranian airspace.

On the other hand, the Iranian Minister of Intelligence, Mohammad Alawi, accused the official Iranian news agency (IRNA) of fabricating and distorting the news and statements.

Alawi said in remarks to reporters on Iranian television and circulated by activists on the sites of communication, he feared to interview with the agency «Irna» because it has already fabricated statements attributed to him on «negotiate with America».

He said earlier this month the agency attributed his remarks to Alawi saying that the government would negotiate with the United States if the Supreme Leader allowed it. "Although I have never made such a statement," he said.

"I made a different statement in a month-long city but the reporter changed my words 180 degrees, and I do not say he was deliberate, but wrong," he said.

It is not the first time that IRNA and other official Iranian media accuse it of misrepresenting the speeches and news of state officials and even world leaders.

In contrast, the British news agency «Reuters», yesterday, a British source said that London did not send any intermediaries to Iran, to discuss the issue of the British oil tanker, which has been held by Iran for days.

The head of the office of the guide of the Iranian regime, Mohammad Kalpakany, said earlier in the day that London sent a mediator to Tehran to discuss the issue of the release of the British oil tanker detained since Friday.

He did not give further details about the British envoy's visit, Tasnim reported.

In Washington, the US Treasury Department's Foreign Assets Control Office has warned civil aviation companies against sanctions if they deal with Iranian lines, whether in unauthorized transfers, goods, technology or services linked to Iran.

"The Iranian regime is using commercial airlines to promote the agenda of destabilizing terrorist groups, such as the Revolutionary Guards and its Quds Force, and to move fighters from proxy militias across the region," the office said in a statement last night.

"The international civil aviation sector, including service providers such as public sales agents, brokers and property companies, must be on high alert to ensure they are not involved in Iran's malicious activities," said US Treasury Undersecretary for Counterterrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandler.

"The lack of proper compliance controls may expose civil aviation workers to significant risks, including civil, criminal or economic sanctions," she said.

The US Treasury warned against dealing with Iranian commercial airlines that support the Iranian regime's efforts to provoke regional violence through terrorism, supplying militias and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime with weapons and other destabilizing activities. The statement pointed out that the Iranian company Mahan, which plays a key role in supporting the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and its militias and regional agents through the transfer of foreign fighters and weapons and funds.

Mahan reportedly transferred the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Qasim Soleimani, whose classification was approved under UN Security Council Resolution 2231, where he is subject to a travel ban by the United Nations.

The United States has also designated the lines of Qeshm Fares, a commercial cargo carrier controlled by Mahan, which is considered the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard activities in Syria in early 2019 under the auspices of the counterterrorism authorities.

The US Treasury confirmed that in addition to the transfer of arms and fighters in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, the Mahan airport was used by the Revolutionary Guards in March 2019 to transport the bodies of fighters who died in the fighting in Syria to several airports in Iran.

She stressed that sales agents and other entities that continue to provide services to designated Iranian airlines are still subject to sanctions.

It also warned that the Iranian regime is trying to evade sanctions and purchase aircraft parts and aircraft illegally, through the use of front companies and general trading companies unrelated to the falsification or fabrication of documents.