Iran 'favours' talks despite Trump snub

TEHRAN: President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that Iran favours talks with the US if it lifts sanctions against the Islamic republic, despite his top diplomat turning down a meeting with US President Donald Trump.

Rouhani said that "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.

"Iran favours 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, speaking 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 the nuclear deal.

"Whether they want to come into the JCPOA or not, it's up to them," said Rouhani, referring to the deal known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

"All sanctions should be lifted so that there will be no criminals facing us," he said, accusing the US of committing acts of "economic terrorism" for blocking food and medicine imports.

Tensions between Iran and the US have been rising since Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the nuclear deal in May 2018 and began imposing sanctions on it as part of a campaign of "maximum pressure".

Twelve months on, Iran hit back by suspending some of its commitments under the deal.

The situation threatened to spiral out of control with ships attacked, drones downed and oil tankers seized.

- 'Warmongers' deceived Trump -

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

Rouhani, with Zarif sitting beside him, defended the minister who has faced criticism from hardliners over his role in the deal that the Americans ultimately abandoned.

"We had so many economic victories (in the wake of the deal) that it enraged some people," he said, stressing the benefits the agreement had on Iran's transportation and banking.

Rouhani said the US made a mistake when it thought "everything will be over" for Iran after "some planned a street riot" in December 2017.    At that time, Iran was rocked by days of deadly protests reportedly sparked by austerity measures.

"This caused Americans to be trapped. They thought Iran's system is weakened," he said.

"They said, 'One more push. Iran has reached a stage where if we give it another push, everything will be over'.

This push by "warmongers" deceived Trump and led to his decision to leave the JCPOA, he said.

- 'Oil for oil' -

Rouhani said in any talks the Americans should be ready to negotiate fairly.

"If you want security, if your soldiers want security in the region, (then agree to) security for security," he said. "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."

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

Iran has also been locked in a high-seas standoff with US ally Britain since Royal Marines helped to seize a tanker carrying Iranian oil off the British overseas territory of Gibraltar on July 4.    Weeks later, its Revolutionary Guards impounded a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz -- the conduit for much of the world's crude.

Zarif on Monday confirmed reports he declined an offer from a US senator to meet Trump at the White House last month.

The foreign minister said he turned it down despite a threat of being hit with sanctions within two weeks.

"I was told in New York I would be sanctioned in two weeks unless I accepted that offer, which fortunately I did not," he said.       The New Yorker magazine reported on Friday that Senator Rand Paul met Zarif in the US on July 15 and had Trump's blessing when he extended the invitation to the Iranian minister.

The United States imposed sanctions against Zarif on Wednesday, targeting any assets he has in America and squeezing his ability to function as a globe-trotting diplomat.

Separately on Tuesday, Iran's military unveiled three precision-guided missiles, with Defence Minister Brigadier-General Amir Hatami saying they showed the country was ready to defend itself in the face of US "viciousness and conspiracies".