Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in an interview broadcast Sunday that Tehran demands “respect” from President Trump.
When asked on CBS’s “Face the Nation” why Iran rejected a meeting between Trump and its president, Hassan Rouhani, Zarif pointed to the “very negative and insulting speech” Trump gave to the United Nations General Assembly.
{mosads}“We believe that the first requirement for any bilateral meeting is mutual respect and if the president is not prepared to provide that exercise, that mutual respect, then a meeting would not produce any positive results,” he said.
Zarif also dodged when asked what Rouhani thinks of Trump, saying “You’ve got to ask him.”
“The United States under this administration has not been in a mood to fulfill its obligations. So that makes the United States not very trustworthy,” Zarif added when asked if Rouhani thinks he can trust Trump.
“What does that mean?” host Margaret Brennan asked. “What do you want to see?”
“Respect,” he responded.
“You do not engage in negotiations by exercising disrespect for a country, for its people. For its government by openly making claims including this illusion about regime change. Then you do not leave much room for a genuine dialogue.”
Zarif also said a prisoner swap is a possibility “from a humanitarian perspective, but it requires a change of attitude” and a “change of language” from Trump.
Zarif during the interview also said Trump has failed to live up to the nuclear deal with Tehran and warned that Iran is ready to ramp up its nuclear work if Trump pulls the U.S. out of the deal and resumes sanctions.