In a speech broadcast on Iranian state television, President Hassan Rouhani said his country receives message “every day” from the United States seeking negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.
“From one side, they try to pressure the people of Iran,” he said on September 8. “From the other, they send us messages every day through various methods that we should come and negotiate together.”
“Should we see your messages? Or should we see your brutish actions,” he asked of the United States.
In May, U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 agreement between Iran and world powers under which Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
Trump has criticized the deal as not doing enough to restrict the nuclear program and not doing anything to limit Iran’s support for militant groups in Syria and Iraq.
The United States intends to reimpose sanctions targeting Iran’s oil sector in November if a new agreement is not reached.
Rouhani also said Iran is facing an “economic, psychological, and propaganda war” and named the United States and Israel as Iran’s main enemies.
