Tehran: Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday that new US sanctions against senior Iranian officials including top diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif showed Washington is "lying" about an offer to negotiate. "At the same time as you call for negotiations you seek to sanction the foreign minister? It's obvious that you're lying," Rouhani said in a meeting with ministers broadcast live on TV. His comments came after US National Security Advisor John Bolton said Washington had "held the door open to real negotiations" but that "in response, Iran's silence has been deafening".
Rouhani also questioned the logic of blacklisting supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and said it showed that Washington is "confused." "The leader's assets are a Hosseiniye (Shiite place of worship) and a simple house. Our leaders are not like other countries' leaders who have billions in an account abroad so you can sanction it, seize it or block it," Rouhani said. "To sanction him for what? Not to travel to America? That's cute." Trump imposed new sanctions Monday against Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and top military chiefs, further raising the stakes in an escalating regional standoff.
Iran warned that new US sanctions targeting its supreme leader and other top officials meant "closing the doors of diplomacy" between Tehran and US amid heightened tensions, even as the country's president derided the White House as being "afflicted by mental retardation." President Rouhani went on to call the sanctions against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "outrageous and idiotic," especially since the 80-year-old Shiite cleric has no plans to travel to the US. Also, Trump was mocked by Iranians after mixing up the country's current supreme leader with his predecessor who died 30 years ago.
