Hassan Rouhani: America has destroyed the bridge and is shouting from the other side

The President of Iran states that the Islamic Republic is in "interaction and negotiation" with "the whole world" and that the Americans have destroyed the "conditions for negotiation" with Tehran. His remarks come after the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic responded to Donald Trump's proposal for negotiations with Iranian leaders by declaring that negotiations with the U.S. would currently be "definitely detrimental" to Iran and are therefore "forbidden." Following these statements, Hassan Rouhani said in a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, August 15, that although the negotiations between Iran and the U.S. were progressing "well," America "has destroyed it itself and has burned the bridge." According to him, the United States is now "standing on the other side and asking how to cross?" Rouhani introduced the Islamic Republic as being in "interaction and negotiation" with all countries of the world despite the destruction of negotiation conditions with the U.S., mentioning that Tehran has had "very good and sincere negotiations" with Europe, Asia, and its neighbors in Kazakhstan. He addressed the Americans, saying, "If you wanted to cross, why did you destroy the {negotiation bridge}? If you wanted to see each other, why did you destroy the bridge? You destroyed the bridge and are standing on the other side shouting." Rouhani added, "This is not how it works. If you are truthful, come and rebuild the bridge. Once you fix the bridge, naturally and automatically, traffic will resume; you are the effective and destructive factor in this matter." Despite the announcement of the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA and the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions against Iran, the U.S. President expressed readiness on August 6 to meet with Iranian leaders, stating that he has "no conditions" regarding this matter. The Iranian Foreign Ministry responded to this proposal, which faced a very harsh reaction from military commanders in Iran, stating that the Islamic Republic is "not afraid" of negotiations but that "it is unlikely that Trump is serious about negotiations." The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic has also declared negotiations with the U.S. as "forbidden," and the commander of the Revolutionary Guards stated that Iran will not negotiate with either Donald Trump or future U.S. presidents. In subsequent days, Trump emphasized that Iran's economic situation is rapidly deteriorating and predicted that Iranian officials would soon negotiate with the U.S. Earlier this year, over a hundred political and civil activists inside and outside Iran issued a statement calling for "direct negotiations without any preconditions" between Iran and the U.S., referencing the "global" welcome for the U.S. President's meeting with the North Korean leader and the "dangerous situation in the region." Eshaq Jahangiri, the first vice president of Hassan Rouhani, also stated that due to the "hostile and disrespectful policies of the U.S. government against the Islamic Republic of Iran, negotiations with this country are unacceptable." Jahangiri claimed that "most elites" in the country share this view. He referred to what he called the "propaganda and psychological war of the U.S. and its affiliated media against the Iranian nation," adding that the goal is to confront public opinion in Iran with "anxiety, concern, and despair regarding the future of the country and the system." The foreign ministers of Iran and the U.S. negotiated directly for the first time since the severance of relations between the two countries in 1979 during Hassan Rouhani's administration. However, the Supreme Leader has stated that the subject of these negotiations was only the nuclear agreement and that Iran would not negotiate with the U.S. on other issues. In 2007, during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, Hossein Kazemi Qomi and Ryan Crocker, the ambassadors of Iran and the U.S. in Iraq, also negotiated directly with each other. In the final years of Ahmadinejad's presidency, the deputy foreign ministers of both countries also held secret negotiations in Oman.