“There are no plans for meetings or negotiations with US leaders,” Raishi said. “I have no plans to meet them at all.”
Iran’s president has described his attendance at the United Nations as an opportunity to explain to the world the “malice” allegedly held by unspecified countries and world powers towards Iran. He didn’t elaborate.
Raisi will address both the General Assembly and the UNESCO Conference on Religion, accompanied by Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdulrahian and nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Khani.
Negotiations between Iran and world powers over the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal remain stalled, but Tehran and Washington have exchanged written responses over the finer points of the roadmap in recent months. Sanctions on Iran would be lifted in exchange for curbing its rapidly advancing nuclear program. .
Iran and the United States have not had diplomatic ties since 1979, when militant students in Tehran took over the U.S. Embassy.
On Sunday, CBS’ “60 Minutes” aired an interview with Raisi, who said the United States cannot be trusted and vowed Washington would not withdraw from the nuclear deal again, as President Donald Trump did in 2018. requested.
Raisi also defended Iran’s anti-Israel stance, telling CBS that Iran was ready to discuss a prisoner exchange with the United States, and defended Tehran against the killing of Iran’s top commander, General Qassem Soleimani. He said he was committed to pursuing “justice.” US airstrikes in Baghdad in January 2020.
