Aug 6, 2019

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that Tehran favours talks with Washington but the United States must first lift sanctions it imposed on the Islamic republic.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran favours talks and negotiations and, if the US really wants to talk, before anything else it should lift all sanctions," Rouhani said in remarks aired live on state television.

Rouhani, speaking at the foreign ministry after meeting with his top diplomat, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said Iran was ready for talks regardless of whether or not the US was party to a landmark nuclear

deal.

"Whether they want to come into the JCPOA or not, it’s up to them," said Rouhani, referring to the 2015 nuclear deal known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.