Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi has stated that it is more likely that US President Donald Trump will himself "call Tehran and ask for negotiations," rather than Iran calling Washington.
The statement came after Trump announced that the US will be toughening sanctions against Iran and said that at a certain point Iran will call him and say "let's make a deal." According to the US president only then will Washington and Tehran be able to reach new agreement to lift sanctions.
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President Trump announced on May 8 that the US was withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as Iran nuclear deal, an international agreement reached in 2015 by Iran, the United States, Russia, France, China, the UK, Germany and the EU. The deal, which was signed by Barack Obama on behalf of the US, was designed to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and to ensure the peaceful nature of its nuclear program, lifting economic sanctions against the country in return.
Trump has consistently been a harsh opponent of the Iran deal, calling it "defective at its core." He demanded to "fix" it, threatening to re-impose economic sanctions that would affect any company doing business with Tehran.
