TEHRAN – President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday that he generally supports negotiation and diplomacy, but under the current situation there will be no negotiation with the United States.

“During my last year’s visit to the United Nations, five well-known leaders of the world mediated to hold talks with the U.S. president [Donald Trump]. A year before that, the U.S. Department of State requested to hold talks for eight times. However, the current situation is not right for talks. Today, it is right to resist,” he said during a meeting with religious figures and clerics in Tehran.

He added that the people and officials are united in the view that it is essential to stand against the U.S. pressure campaign.

Kamal Kharrazi, chief of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, said on May 12 that U.S. President Donald Trump’s act in quitting the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), “has left no room for trust and negotiation”.

During a meeting with authorities on May 14, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, “Negotiating is poisonous as long as the U.S. continues with the same course of action; besides, negotiating with the current government of the United States is all the more poisonous.”

Speaking in the same meeting, Rouhani said the Iranians can overcome problems through unity and solidarity.

“We can counter problems through unity, coordination and better management,” he said.

Ebrahim Raeisi, the Judiciary chief, said on May 13 that Iran can achieve victory over the U.S. economic and political pressure through resistance, suggesting that Iran will not surrender or hold negotiation with the Trump administration.

Hossein Sheikholeslam, an expert on international affairs who served as deputy foreign minister and ambassador for years, has said that internal integrity is a deterrent element to counter the U.S. hostile actions.

“Military, economic and cultural power and also internal integrity are deterrent elements against the U.S. hostile actions. Words and logic do not work for the U.S.,” he told ISNA in an interview published on Sunday.

He ruled out negotiations with Washington and noted that the U.S. administration cannot be trusted.

NA/PA