US President Donald Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he hopes the Iranian leadership stays, does well and talks to Washington decently.
“They are doing badly right now; the country is not doing well economically at all,” Trump said. “That can be changed very quickly, very easily. But they have to get rid of hostility from the leadership. And the leadership – I hope they stay, I hope they do a great job, but they should talk to us decently. We are all for them.”
On Monday, the US government imposed a new round of sanctions against Iran, targeting the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and military leaders. The US government said it was also preparing sanctions against Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called the decision to impose sanctions against Khamenei “stupid,” while the additional announcement of imposing sanctions on Zarif was a sign that the United States was lying when claiming it was ready to negotiate with Iran.