Rouhani is ready to negotiate with Washington and requires lifting sanctions

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said yesterday his country was ready to negotiate with Washington on the condition that it lifted the sanctions imposed on it and addressed the United States, offering "security for security and oil for oil". China yesterday warned the United States against deploying missiles in the Asia-Pacific region and threatened retaliatory measures, calling on countries in the region, especially Japan, South Korea and Australia, to be "cautious."

In detail, Rouhani said, in comments broadcast live on state television, "Iran is in negotiation, and if the United States really wants to discuss, it must first of all lift all sanctions."

He continued: «If they want talks, they should pave the way for that», calling for the US administration to apologize to the Iranian people, according to the «Fars» news agency.

"Peace with Iran is the foundation of every peace," Rouhani said. "War with Iran is the mother of all wars." Whether they want to join the nuclear deal or not, it is up to them.

"All sanctions must be lifted," he said, accusing the United States of "economic terrorism" by obstructing the import of food and medicine.

Sitting next to Foreign Minister Mohammad Jawad Zarif, Rouhani defended the minister, who has been criticized by militants, for his role in the deal from which the Americans unilaterally withdrew.

"We had a lot of economic victories (in the wake of the deal), which angered some," he said, referring to the benefits of the deal in Iran's transport and banking sectors.

Rouhani said the United States made a mistake when it thought "everything would end" for Iran, after "some planned street riots" in December 2017. Back then, Iran witnessed days of bloody protests that reportedly began over austerity measures. .

Rouhani stressed that in any possible negotiations, the Americans should be ready to negotiate rationally. For oil, according to the official IRNA news agency.

The Iranian Foreign Minister, confirmed, the day before yesterday, he rejected an invitation to meet with Trump, despite threats of sanctions against him.

The New Yorker magazine reported that the meeting was scheduled to take place at the White House, which did not confirm the information. On July 31, Washington imposed sanctions on Zarif.

In response to Rouhani's remarks, US disarmament representative Robert Wood said President Donald Trump was "ready to sit down and discuss with Iran," but added: "But we are not sure that Iran really wants to engage in this debate."

Tensions between Iran and the United States have escalated since President Trump announced in May 2018 his country's withdrawal from the nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions on Iran.

Twelve months later, Iran responded by suspending some of its commitments under the deal, and the situation was almost out of control due to attacks on ships, downing of drones, and the seizure of oil tankers.

Separately, the Iranian Defense Ministry revealed yesterday three new precision-guided missiles, proving that it is ready to defend itself against the "malice and intrigue" of the United States, according to Iranian Defense Minister, Amir Hatami.

On the other hand, Russia has made it clear that it will take action to defend itself if the United States deployed missiles in Asia following the collapse of a landmark arms control treaty and expects Japan to deploy a new US missile launch system.

This came in response to US Defense Secretary Mark Esper's statement last Saturday that he supported the deployment of land-based medium-range missiles in Asia relatively soon, a day after Washington withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which was signed during the war. Cold in 1987, which prohibits land-based missiles, whose ranges range from 500 to 5500 kilometers.

Esper did not specify where Washington planned to deploy those weapons, saying: "I do not want to speculate, they are things we always discuss with the allies."

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, asked about the possible deployment of missiles by the United States, said that Russia does not intend to enter an arms race with Washington, but will respond defensively to any threats.

"If new US regimes begin, particularly in Asia, we will take the corresponding steps that strike a balance with such measures, in order to counter such threats," he told a news conference, adding that Moscow expects Tokyo to soon deploy the MK-41 system. »American missile launch in Japan.

For its part, China warned yesterday, the United States against the deployment of missiles in the Asia-Pacific region.

"China will not remain idle and will have to take retaliatory measures if the United States deploys medium-range missiles in this part of the world," Fu Kong, director of arms control at the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told reporters.

In response to a question, Fu did not say what Beijing's response would be. "We call on neighboring countries to exercise caution and not allow the deployment of American missiles on their territory, because this would not be in the interest of their national security," he warned.

Washington could thus knock China because most of Beijing's arsenal contained weapons that were banned under the treaty, which China did not sign. Esper said China should not be surprised by the US plans. “This should not come as a surprise, because we have been talking about it for quite some time now. Similar.

This comes in conjunction with the assertion of the White House economic adviser, Larry Kadlo, that the US president, wants to reach a trade agreement with China, provided that it is "appropriate" for the United States.

Cadlo's comments came a day after a massive sell-off in markets following a sudden escalation last week on the line of the China-US trade dispute.

He told CNBC that the president was not satisfied with the slow pace of talks with Beijing earlier this month. "The president protects the US economy from many unfair business practices," he said.

On Thursday, Trump announced a new $ 300 billion tariff on Chinese goods.

For its part, China, yesterday, asked its companies to stop buying American farm products, according to a report «Bloomberg».

He said Trump "wants to continue negotiations.

US and Chinese negotiators are scheduled to hold a new round of direct negotiations in Washington next month. The last round took place last week in Shanghai, which US negotiators left without comment.