Ghasemi Rejects Nikki Haley's Statements on Iran's Request for Meeting with Trump

The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry dismissed the statements of the U.S. representative at the United Nations regarding Iran's request for a meeting with Donald Trump as "ridiculous" and "media fabrication with specific goals." According to the IRNA news agency, Bahram Ghasemi, on Friday, September 30, called Nikki Haley's remarks about Iran's request for a meeting between the presidents of the two countries on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly "ridiculous." He stated that these comments were made "to create a psychological atmosphere with specific goals." Ghasemi added, "Such statements or fabrications are media-psychological designs and attempts by certain circles that clumsily distort the realities; these methods are completely known to us, and our archive is filled with such fabrications." He emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran "has never made a request for a meeting with Mr. Trump." Nikki Haley, the U.S. representative at the UN, stated that Donald Trump would consider any request from Hassan Rouhani for a meeting with him and would decide on it. Donald Trump, who withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear agreement with Iran to resume sanctions against Tehran, has suggested negotiating unconditionally with Tehran officials to reach another agreement. Trump emphasized that Iran's economic situation is rapidly deteriorating and predicted that Iranian officials would soon enter negotiations with the U.S. government. However, Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, rejected this proposal, stating that, like Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the current Iranian regime, he prohibits negotiations with the U.S. Previously, Islamic Republic officials have claimed several times that Donald Trump proposed a meeting with Hassan Rouhani, which the Islamic Republic rejected. For instance, Rouhani claimed on Saturday, September 17, without going into details, that U.S. officials "send messages every day" through various means requesting negotiations with Islamic Republic officials. Meanwhile, Mahmoud Vaezi, the head of the Iranian president's office, stated in July that Donald Trump had requested to negotiate with Rouhani eight times during Rouhani's last visit to the UN headquarters in New York, which were not accepted. This claim was also made last year by the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, but the White House spokesperson rejected this claim on November 8, 2017. The U.S. president will preside over the upcoming UN Security Council meeting about Iran. Hassan Rouhani, the president of Iran, is scheduled to speak at the UN General Assembly on September 25. However, there is disagreement in Iran regarding Rouhani's attendance at this meeting, with some political figures in Iran calling for Mohammad Javad Zarif to attend instead.