Gulf Tensions: Iran's Rouhani Blames Trump For Failed France Bid To Initiate Contact

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani blamed his US President Donald Trump for the failure of French President Emmanuel Macron’s efforts to initiate a historic phone call between them last week at the United Nations. The Islamic republic is prepared “to hold fruitful negotiations”, he told the Iranian cabinet, referring to two days of diplomatic efforts by Macron.

“From my point of view, the path (to dialogue) remains clear,”, he said in a speech carried on state television, thanking the French leader.

France’s efforts at the UN General Assembly in New York “could have been acceptable, in a certain way”, he said. “If anyone tried to prevent (contact taking place), it was the White House and nobody else”.

Recently, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused the U.S. of initiating a cyberwar with his country and warned that “any war the United States starts it won’t be able to finish.”

Iran fired up advanced centrifuges to boost its enriched uranium stockpiles on September 7 as the latest scaling back of commitments under the crumbling 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

Last year, the relations between Washington and Tehran soared after US President Donald Trump pulled out of a nuclear accord with Iran, negotiated under former president Barack Obama. 

The United States also imposed sanctions on Iran’s sovereign wealth fund, whose board of trustees includes President Hassan Rouhani, as well as Etemad Tejarate Pars, a company that the Treasury Department said had sent money internationally on behalf of Iran’s defence ministry.

Earlier, Trump while addressing the UNGA had already ruled out any possibility of easing economic pressure on Iran. Tensions between Iran and US ratcheted up after the Trump administration announced that it would unilaterally force all countries to stop buying Iran’s oil, which is its major export.