DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran is ready to give the United States a chance to resolve disputes between the arch foes, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday, a day after President Donald Trump restored his “maximum pressure” campaign on the country.
The official said Tehran disagreed with “any displacement of Gazans, but Iran-U.S. talks are a separate matter”, referring to Trump’s remarks that the U.S. would take over war-ravaged Gaza and create a “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere.
“Iran does not agree with any displacement of Palestinians and has communicated this through various channels. However, this issue and the path of Iran’s nuclear agreement are two separate matters and should be pursued separately,” the official said.
The official said Tehran wanted the United States to “rein in Israel if Washington is seeking a deal” with the Islamic Republic.
Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that U.S. concerns about Iran developing nuclear weapons were not a complicated issue and could be resolved given Tehran’s opposition to weapons of mass destruction.
Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero in order to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Tehran has long said its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful and it has no intention to build nuclear weapons.
(Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Alex Richardson)
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