US President Donald Trump said on Thursday Iran has been asking if US sanctions against the country can be lifted.
“Iran has been asking if the sanctions could be lifted,” Trump told reporters late on Thursday at the White House.
“Iran has very heavy US sanctions and it makes it really hard for them to do what they’d like to be able to do. I’m open to hearing that. We’ll see what happens, but I would be open to it.”
Iran’s mission to the UN in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday cooperation between Iran and the US is not possible as long as Washington continues to support Israel, maintain military bases and interfere in the Middle East.
After taking office in January, Trump restored his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran, which includes efforts to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon. In June the US bombed Iran’s nuclear sites.
The two countries held five rounds of nuclear talks before a 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June. However, talks between the two sides have faced major stumbling blocks, such as the issue of uranium enrichment on Iranian soil, which Western powers want to bring down to zero to minimise any risk of weaponisation, a plan Tehran has rejected.
Reuters
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