Washington Proposes Arranging Meeting Between US, Iranian Presidents at UNGA - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Washington has proposed organizing a meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, during the upcoming session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Kyodo news reported on Thursday.

The meeting may take place on 25 September, Kyodo reported, citing a source in the US government. If Iran agrees, this will be the first meeting between Presidents of the two countries since the 1979 Iranian revolution.

US President Donald Trump has previously discarded Iran's preconditions for negotiations between the two countries, stating he and Rouhani might meet at the UN General Assembly meeting in September and solve the issues "in 24 hours".

 

An Iranian security official, dressed in protective clothing, walks inside the Uranium Conversion Facility, just outside the city of Isfahan, 410 kilometers, (255 miles), south of the Iranian capital Tehran in this Wednesday, March 30, 2005

© AP Photo / VAHID SALEMI

The news comes amid escalated tensions between Washington and Tehran. The Islamic Republic has recently announced it would continue suspending obligations under the 2015 Nuclear Treaty, as the EU has so far failed to protect the country from the US sanctions, imposed by Washington in 2018 after President Trump unilaterally withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action

 

The United States has since deployed additional troops in the Middle East and called on its allies to establish a maritime coalition to protect tankers in the Persian Gulf, citing several incidents with cargo vessels in the region.